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tihxavy  of  tl^e  Cheolojical  Seminary 

PRINCETON  •  NEW  JERSEY 


PRESENTED  BY 

The  Estate  of 
Robert  Kirkwood 

BX  9178  .B62  C5 

Black,  Hugh,  b.  1868. 

...  Christ's  service  of  love 


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CHRIST'S    SERVICE    OF    LOVE 


I 
By    HUGH    BLACK,    M.A. 


Friendship 

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Communion  Sermonx 


^GICALSt^^ 


Christ's  Service  ^Love 


BY 

HUGH    BLACK 

JESUP     PROFESSOR     OF     PRACTICAL     THEOLOGY 
UNION    THEOLOGICAL    SEMINARY,     NEW    YORK 


New  York        Chicago        Toronto 

Fleming    H.    Revell    Company 

London         and  Edinburgh 


Copyright,  1907,  by 
FLEMING  H.  REVELL  COMPANY 


New  York  :  158  Fifth  Avenue 
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London  :  21  Paternoster  Square 
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TO    MY  WIFE 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

INTRODUCTION 13 

I 

CHRIST'S    SERVICE    OF    LOVE:    A    MEDITATION 

BEFORE  COMMUNION 23 

The  Son  of  Man  came  not  to  be  ministered  unto,  but  to 
minister. — St.  Matthew  xx.  28. 

II 

CHRISTIAN  OPTIMISM 30 

The  Lord  Jesus  the  same  night  in  which  He  was  be- 
trayed took  bread,  and  when  He  had  given  thanks 
He  brake  it. — 1  Corinthians  xi.  23. 

Ill 
THE  CURE  FOR  CARE 42 

In  the  multitude  of  my  thoughts  within  me,  Thy  com- 
forts delight  my  soul. — Psalm  xciv.  19. 

IV 
THE  SOURCE  AND  ISSUE  OF  COMFORT  .        .      52 

Blessed  be  the  God  and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
the  Father  of  mercies  and  God  of  all  comfort ;  who 
comforteth  us  in  all  our  aflBiction,  that  we  may  be 
able  to  comfort  them  that  are  in  any  affliction, 
through  the  comfort  wherewith  we  ourselves  are 
comforted  of  God. — 2  Corinthians  i.  3-4. 

V 

BY  WAY  OF  REMEMBRANCE 64 

I  stir  up  your  pure  minds  by  way  of  remembrance. — 
2  Peter  iii.  1. 

VI 
THE  SACRAMENTAL  COMMITTAL      ....      75 
That  which  I  have  committed  unto  Him. — 2  Timothy 
i.  13. 

11 


12  CONTENTS 

VII 

TAGB 

A  FURTHER  SACRAMENTAL  COMMITTAL      .        .      85 

That  good  thing  which  was  committed  unto  thee. — 
2  Timothy  i.  14. 

VIII 
THE    PURSUING    SOUL:      AN    EXPOSITION    OF 

PSALM  LXIII 92 

My  soul  followeth  hard  after  Thee.— Pbalm  Ixiil.  8. 

IX 

THE  LORD'S  DESIRE 101 

With  desire  I  have  desired  to  eat  this  Passover  with  you 
before  I  suffer. — Luke  xxii.  15. 

X 

CORDS  OF  A  MAN 109 

I  drew  them  with  cords  of  a  man,  with  bands  of  love. — 
HosEA  xi.  4. 

XI 
HEART-DIRECTION  .......     119 

The  Lord  direct  your  hearts  into  the  love  of  God. — 
2  Thessaloniaks  iii.  5. 

XII 
THE  PATIENCE  OF  CHRIST 129 

The  Lord  direct  your  hearts  into  the  patience  of  Christ 
— 2  Thessalonians  iii.  5. 

XIII 
SELF-EXAMINATION       .        .        .        .        .        .        .137 

Let  a  man  examine  himself. — 1  Corinthians  xi.  28. 

XIV 
SELF-JUDGMENT 145 

Thou  art  the  man. — 2  Samuel  xii.  7. 

XV 
DIVINE  SCRUTINY  AND  GUIDANCE         .        .        .157 
Search  me,  O  God,  and  lead  me. — Psalm  cxxxix.  23. 


CONTENTS  13 

XVI 

FASE 

A  PATTERN  OF  GOOD  WORKS 168 

In  all  things  showing  thyself  a  pattern  of  good  works. 
— Titus  ii.  7, 

XVII 

THE  SIGN  OF  CHRIST 180 

Master,  we  would  see  a  sign  from  Thee.— St.  Matthew 
xii.  38. 

XVIII 
LOVE  TO  THE  END 191 

Having  loved  His  own  which  were  in  the  world,  He 
loved  them  unto  the  end. — St.  John  xiii.  1. 

XIX 

HOPE  TO  THE  END 201 

If  we  hold  fast  the  confidence  and  the  rejoicing  of  our 
hope  firm  unto  the  end.  —Hebrews  iii.  6. 

XX 

PREVENIENT  GRACE 208 

Thou  preventest  him  with  the  blessings  of  goodness. — 
Psalm  xxi.  3, 

XXI 
HUMILITY 220 

Who  am  I,  and  what  is  my  house,  that  Thou  hast 
brought  me  hitherto  ? — 2  Samuel  vii.  18. 

XXII 
FEAR  AND  LOVE 230 

There  is  no  fear  in  love ;  but  perfect  love  casteth  out 
fear. — 1  John  iv.  18. 

XXIII 
THE  FILIAL  RELATION  :  CONFIRMATION  SERV- 
ICE      243 

As  many  as  received  Him,  to  them  gave  He  power  to 
become  the  sons  of  God. — St.  John  i.  12. 


14  CONTENTS 

XXIV 

PAGE 

THE  SUBJECT  OF  MEDITATION         .        .        .        .253 
We  have  thought  on  Thy  lovingkindness,  O  God,  in 
the  midst  of  Thy  Temple. — Psalm  xlviii.  9. 

XXV 
CHRIST'S  CHOSEN 261 

Ye  have  not  chosen  Me,  but  I  have  chosen  you. — St. 
John  xv.  16, 

XXVI 

LOVE'S  SELF-EXPRESSION 272 

Jesus  knowing  that  the  Father  had  given  all  things  into 
His  hands,  and  that  He  was  come  from  God  and 
goeth  unto  God  .  .  .  began  to  wash  the  disciples' 
feet.— St.  John  xiii.  3. 

XXVII 
THE  CONSEQUENCES  OF  FAITH        .        .        .        .280 
Joy  and  peace  in  believing,  that  ye  abound  in  hope. — 
Romans  xv.  13. 

XXVIII 
THE  PEOPLE  OF  THE  COVENANT    .        .        .        .291 
The  Lord  our  God  made  a  covenant  with  us  in  Horeb. — 
Deutekonomy  v.  2. 

XXIX 
THE  TERMS   OF  THE  COVENANT     .        .        .        .803 
I  am  the  Lord  thy  God,  which  brought  thee  out  of 
the  land  of  Egypt,  from  the  house  of  bondage. 
Thou  shalt  have  none  other  gods  before  Me. — 
Deuteronomy  v.  6,  7. 

XXX 

THE  APPEAL  OF  THE  PAST 315 

Thus  saith  the  Lord:  I  remember  for  thee  the  kindness 
of  thy  youth,  the  love  of  thine  espousals,  when 
thou  wentest  after  Me  in  the  wilderness,  in  a  land 
that  was  not  sown.  Israel  was  holiness  unto  the 
Lord. — Jeremiah  ii.  2. 


INTRODUCTION 

The  sermons  in  this  book  are  designed  for  devotional 
reading,  with  some  suitable  lines  of  thought  in  keep- 
ing with  the  great  occasion  of  Communion.  I  have 
purposely  left  out  doctrinal  discussion  and  contro- 
versial themes.  The  celebration  of  the  Lord's  Supper 
should  be  a  centre  of  union  to  all  Christian  hearts, 
instead  of  being,  as  it  often  is,  the  very  symbol  of 
exclusion.  In  utter  perversity  we  even  use  the  word 
to  represent  what  separates  Churches  from  each 
other  instead  of  what  should  really  unite  them;  we 
speak  of  the  Roman  Communion,  the  Episcopal  or 
Presbyterian  or  Baptist  Communion.  It  is  an  offence. 
We  seem  to  think  it  quite  natural  for  a  Church  to 
draw  the  line  here,  to  be  willing  to  have  other  Chris- 
tians worship  with  them  and  work  together  with  them 
for  common  Christian  purposes,  but  not  to  unite  here 
where,  if  we  truly  think  of  it,  we  can  alone  have  true 
union. 

We  have  allowed  the  word  to  be  used  as  a  synonym 
for  sectarianism,  and  we  speak  of  "our  Communion," 
meaning  not  the  fellowship  of  the  Christian  faith 
but  the  sectional  fellowship  of  a  particular  denomina- 
tion. Rather,  wherever  else  there  may  be  division 
or  at  least  separate  life,  it  ought  not  to  be  here  at  the 
common  feast  which  stands  for  the  heart  of  hearts 
of  our  faith.     Even  to  make  the  Sacrament  an  op- 

15 


16  INTRODUCTION 

portunity  for  pressing  doctrinal  distinctions,  for  in- 
sisting on  a  theory  of  atonement,  is  to  endanger  the 
true  spiritual  catholicity  that  the  very  rite  ought  to 
breathe.  There  is  a  place  for  specific  teaching  on 
this  subject,  but  it  ought  to  be  somewhere  else  than 
at  the  Table  of  Remembrance.  A  Church  may  have 
its  own  particular  testimony  to  utter,  and  if  it  likes 
can  insist  on  credal  affirmation,  but  it  is  unfortunate 
that  the  common  meal  which  is  the  symbol  of  the 
common  fellowship  should  be  made  the  separating 
test. 

Partly  as  a  result  of  our  false  view  of  Communion 
the  Sacrament  has  lost  its  true  place  in  the  Church. 
At  any  rate  it  is  a  fact  that  in  many  Churches  in 
America  and  England  it  has  become  merely  an  occa- 
sional appendage  to  public  worship,  where  a  few  faith- 
ful people  remain  behind  to  do  this  in  remembrance 
of  Jesus.  The  ordinary  service  is  conducted  and  a  ser- 
mon preached  with  no  reference  to  what  is  to  follow, 
the  congregation  is  dismissed,  and  often  only  a  tithe 
of  the  worshippers  is  left  for  a  few  minutes  to  break 
the  bread  and  pass  the  cup.  ISTo  doubt  it  is  to  some 
extent  the  swing  of  the  pendulum  from  the  false 
solemnity  and  even  the  superstitious  celebration  of 
the  old  Communion  season,  but  it  is  at  least  a  pity 
that  the  Church  to-day  should  lose  the  great  instru- 
ment this  Sacrament  may  be  for  the  deepening  of 
spiritual  life  and  for  giving  a  tone  to  all  our  religious 
service. 
i^  What  Communion  represents  to  the   Church  is. 


INTRODUCTION  17 

after  all,  the  source  of  devotion  and  the  inspiration 
of  the  OSristianlite.  Teaching  on  this  subject  shouM 
rather  precede  the  actual  celebration  than  accom- 
pany it.  Atthe  Tahle  itself  we  want  merely  to  have 
the  right  note  struck  and  to  have  our  hearts  directed 
into  the  love  of  God.  In  my  own  early  ministry 
I  used  to  preach  doctrinal  sermons  about  the  sacri- 
fice of  Christ  on  Communion  occasions,  but  I  have 
come  to  see  that  this  is  not  the  place  for  such.  In- 
deed elaborate  sermons  of  any  sort  are  not  needed 
at  such  times ;  for  a  Christian  congregation  is  never"! 
more  responsive  and  more  susceptible  to  spiritual  j 
impression  than  when  it  comes  to  keep  the  feast. 

Of  course  it  is  possible  to  exaggerate  the  place 
of  this  rite  and  to  assume  that  some  magical  virtue 
lies  in  partaking.  There^is  nothing  here  that  is  not 
in  the  Gospel  itself,  nothing  new  added  to  the  Gospel, 
nothing  exceptional,  nothing  surprising  beyond  the 
ever-new  surprise  of  the  Father's  love.  It  expresses 
in  simple  action  what  the  pulpit  declares  in  words. 
At  the  same  time  if  we  minimise  the  occasion  of 
Communion,  we  are  throwing  away  a  great  opportu- 
nity for  recalling  ourselves  to  the  central  truths,  and 
are  also  depriving  ourselves  of  the  comfort  and 
strength  which  come  from  realising  our  union  with 
the  Communion  of  the  Saints. 

There  are  various  aspects  of  the  Sacrament  worth 
emphasising  and  in  the  due  proportion  of  these  lies 
safety.  First  of  all  it  is  a  Celebration,  a  memorial 
rite,  "this  do  in  remembrance  of  Me."     [We  are  ac- 


18  INTRODUCTION 

customed  to  this  thought  of  recalling  a  man  or  event 
to  memory.  The  world  has  its  anniversaries  and 
centenaries,  its  memorial  celebrations  when  we  call 
to  recollection  things  in  the  past  which  the  world 
would  be  poorer  to  have  missed  and  be  poorer  even 
to  forget.  Similarly,  the  Church  had  the  natural 
and  useful  custom  which  produced  the  Saints'  Days, 
begun  as  anniversaries  of  their  death,  till  the  whole 
Christian  year  was  portioned  out  in  memory  of  those 
who  had  lived  in  God's  faith  and  fear.  This  Sacra- 
ment in  this  particular  aspect  is  specially  a  memorial 
of  Christ's  death.  It  is  a  significant  dramatic  repre- 
sentation to  our  own  hearts  "that  Christ  died  for  our 
sins  according  to  the  Scriptures."  The  symbolic  ac- 
tions are  specially  designed  for  this  end,  to  call  to 
memory  and  to  vivid  consciousness  this  particular 
thing — the  broken  bread,  the  poured  out  wine.  Some 
Churches  by  their  methods  of  celebrating  have  em- 
phasised this  aspect,  making  it  solemn  by  its  very 
infrequency.  So  the  season  became  a  time  for  self- 
examination,  for  renewing  of  vows,  for  repentance 
and  endeavour  after  new  obedience.  In  Scotland 
until  recently  this  aspect  of  Celebration  was  the  one 
almost  exclusively  emphasised.  A  season  of  Com- 
munion was  observed  once  or  twice  every  year  ex- 
tending about  a  week,  with  Fast-days  and  Services 
of  Preparation.  The  custom  in  the  time  of  its 
vitality  was  very  useful  in  deepening  religious  im- 
pression in  the  whole  community,  and  to  some  extent 
served  a  similar  function  to  that  of  Lent  in  some 


INTRODUCTION  19 

other  countries.  This  aspect  of  Celebration  was  in 
many  cases  exaggerated  to  the  detriment  of  some 
deeper  things,  but  we  ought  not  to  neglect  it.  The 
very  symbols  suggest  it  and  make  it  an  object-lesson, 
a  miniature  drama  of  salvation  presented  to  the  eye. 
These  symbols  are  outward  and  visible  signs,  mutely 
preaching  to  us  the  eternal  love  of  God  our  Father. 

The  next  great  thought,  which  undue  considera-'- ' 

tion  of  the  first  sometimes  obscured,  is  the  simple 
thought  of  Communion.      This  is  the  inward  and 
spiritual  grace  signified  in  the  rite.    It  is  no  formal 
ceremony  this  that  we  do  in  memory  of  Jesus.    It  is 
more  than  a  memorial  rite,  more  than  Celebration, 
it  is  Communion.     It  is  not  merely  going  back  in 
memory  to  historical  fact,  but  also  it  is  personal 
appropriation  of  the  real  spiritual  presence,  enter- 
ing into  the  real  mystical  union,  accepting  humbly 
for  our  soul's  life  the  love  of  God  in  Christ.     Thus 
the  Sacrament  may  truly  be  a  means  of  grace.     The 
Father's  love  is  not  only  set  before  us  as  an  object  of 
history  for  admiration  and  example,  but  it  is  offered 
to  us  in  this  simple  dramatic  way.    It  is  presented  to  ) 
us,  to  be  taken  by  us  and  applied  to  our  own  sorrows  I 
and  sins  and  needs.    We  come  not  only  to  remember  ' 
Him  but  to  be  blessed  by  Him,  to  bathe  our  hearts 
in  His  love,  to  nourish  our  souls,  to  taste  forgiveness 
and    reconcilement    and    peace    with    God,    to    be       nr^cd) 
strengthened  in  our  pilgrim  life,  to  grow  in  grace  in       ^^JL — ' 
the  sunshine  of  His  presence,  and  to  plight  our  troth 
to  Him,  once  more  renew  our  vows  to  follow  and  serve 


20  INTRODUCTION 

Ilim  and  keep  His  commandments,  and  love  Him 


f  mm  ana  Keep 
jc^    I  who  so  loved  us. 


^ 


^ 


It  is  further  a  great  act  of  Thanksgiving,  Eucha- 
rist, a  sacrifice  of  praise  which  we  offer.     In  all  the 
paccounts  of  the  institution  of  the  Sacrament  in  the 
LNew  Testament  there  is  a  blessing  or  thanksgiving. 
The  term  Eucharist  was  the  earliest  name  used  by 
the  Church,  not  merely  because  Christ  gave  thanks  at 
the  last  Supper,  but  because  the  Church  felt  that  in 
the  rite  were  symbolised  all  the  benefits  for  which  we 
ought  to  give  thanks.    It  is  the  culmination  of  all  the 
goodness  and  lovingkindness  of  the  Lord.     We  thank 
God  for  His  unspeakable  gift,  the  crowning  gift  of 
His  love,  typical  of  all  the  good  gifts  of  our  Heavenly 
Father.    In  neglecting  or  minimising  the  Sacrament 
we  are  cutting  ourselves  off  from  participating  in 
what  has  ever  been  the  great  act  of  the  Church's 
thanksgiving. 
N    In  this  function  of  common  praise  there  is  ex- 
I  pressed  also  a  note  of  the  Church,  which  the  Sacra- 
ment itself  represents,  namely.  Unity  amid  all  diver- 
sity of  operation,  of  gifts,  of  function,  and  place.   The 
sign  and  seal  of  the  Communion  of  the  Saints  is  this 
Sacrament  of  the   Lord's   Supper.     This  has   ever 
Vunited  the  Church  of  all  ages,  an  unbroken  chain  of 
\  memorial  rite,  pointing  to  the  Source  of  this  union. 
lit  is  because  we  have  one  Lord  that  we  have  one 
iChurch.     United  to  Him,  we  are  united  to  all  His. 
He  is  the  centre  of  the  circle,  and  all  within  the 
sweep  of  His  love  are  in  Him  and  in  each  other.    We 


INTRODUCTION  21 

sigh  for  unity — we  have  it,  if  we  would  live  in  the-i 
thought  and  power  of  Communion,  the  unity  of  the 
Spirit.      This   simple   thought  brings   comfort   and 
strength,  that  we  are  not  isolated  in  our  endeavours . 
after  the  Christian  life,  not  exceptional  in  our  strug-  J 
gle  or  sorrow  or  joy,  but  that  there  is  a  great  cloud! 
of  witnesses.     It  is  for  inspiration,  for  example,  for 
emulation,  to  realise  the  bond  of  discipleship,  and  toy 
feel  that  we  are  treading  where  the  saints  have  trod. 

A  further  aspect  of  Communion  is  that  it  means! 
renewed  Consecration;  for  in  the  very  act  we  give  J 
ourselves  once  more  to  the  Christian  obedience  and 
the  Christian  service.     The  word  Sacrament  implies 
this,  taken  as  it  was  from  a  Latin  word  "Sacra- 
mentum,"  which  meant  something  sacred,  and  which 
afterwards  was  the  word  used  for  the  oath  of  allegi- 
ance the  Eoman  soldier  took.    In  partaking  of  Com- 
munion we  are  dedicating  all  we  have  and  are  to  God. 
It  means  not  only  consecrating  what  we  have,  but  our- 
selves.    What  we  are  is  of  more  ultimate  importance  ^ 
than  what^we'doT'since  the  value  of  our~action3  is  / 
conditioned  by  what  we  are  in  heart  and  spirit.     Con-  Vf 
secration  is  the  one  and  only  way  of  serving  our  gen-  \ 
eVation;  for  it  uses  the  whole  life.    The  consecration.;/ 
of  gifts  is  involved  in  the  consecration  of  self.    It  is 
the  leaven  that  leavens  the  whole  lump  of  life.    We 
cannot  afford  to  lose  the  opportunity  offered  by  this 
Sacrament  for  confessing  our  discipleship  of  Jesus, 
and  for  consecrating  ourselves  to  the  service  of  His 
kingdom  on  earth. 


Love  bade  rae  welcome  ;  yet  my  soul  drew  back, 

Guilty  of  dust  and  sin. 
But  quick-eyed  Love,  observing  me  grow  slack 

From  my  first  entrance  in, 
Drew  nearer  to  me,  sweetly  questiouing 

If  I  lack'd  anything. 

"  A  guest,"  I  answered,  "  worthy  to  be  here." 

Love  said,  "  You  shall  be  he." 
"I,  the  unkind,  ungrateful  ?    Ah,  my  dear, 

I  cannot  look  on  Thee." 
Love  took  my  hand,  and  smiling  did  reply, 

"  Who  made  the  eyes  but  I  ?" 

"  Truth,  Lord  ;  but  I  have  marred  them  :  let  my  shame 

Go  where  it  doth  deserve." 
"And  know  you  not,"  says  Love,  "  who  bore  the  blame  ?  ". 

"  My  dear,  then  I  will  serve." 

"  You  must  sit  down,"  says  Love,  "  and  taste  my  meat." 

So  I  did  sit  and  eat. 

— George  Herbkkt. 


CHRIST'S   SERVICE   OF   LOVE:   A   MEDITA- 
TION BEFORE  COMMUNION 

TTie  Son  of  Man  came  not  to  be  ministered  unto,  but  to  minister. 
— St.  Matthew  xx.  28. 

This  is  usually,  and  rightly,  taken  as  a  lesson  to  us 
to  follow  our  Lord's  example,  to  judge  our  own  lives 
by  the  amount  of  service  they  contain.  The  disciples 
were  indignant  at  what  they  thought  the  presumption 
of  two  of  their  number  who  had  advanced  special 
claims  to  honour  in  the  Kingdom.  The  imagination 
of  them  all  was  heated  by  the  thought  of  sitting 
on  thrones  and  bearing  sway  of  some  kind  and  at- 
taining to  honour.  The  Master  taught  them  the 
profound  lesson  that  the  way  to  real  spiritual  great- 
ness is  by  service.  It  seemed  an  inversion  of  the 
ordinary  rule  by  which  princes  exercise  dominion, 
and  the  world's  great  men  exercise  authority.  For 
here  it  is  the  opposite,  "whosoever  will  be  great 
among  you  let  him  be  your  minister,  and  whosoever 

23 


24     CHRIST'S    SERVICE    OF   LOVE 

will  be  chief  among  you  let  him  be  your  servant." 
He  takes  Himself  as  an  illustration  of  the  law,  for 
even  the  Son  of  Man  came  not  to  be  ministered  unto 
but  to  minister.  The  lesson  is  that  we  should  follow 
in  His  steps,  and  make  our  religion  not  merely  a 
getting  but  a  giving,  the  service  of  Christ  and  of 
the  brethren. 

But  there  is  another  side  of  religion,  suggested 
even  by  these  words  of  our  text,  though  not  on  the 
surface.  It  is  that  the  Son  of  Man  came  not  that 
we  might  minister  to  Him,  but  that  He  might  min- 
ister to  us,  and  this  should  be  in  our  minds  as  we 
come  to  keep  the  feast.  There  is  much  that  we  can 
do  for  Christ ;  and  the  Christian  life  in  its  practical 
aspect  is  much  concerned  with  Christian  duty  and 
Christian  service.  We  have  to  carry  on  His  work, 
commend  His  Gospel,  fill  up  even  His  sufferings  as 
St.  Paul  declared.  We  have  to  show  His  love  by  the 
love  of  our  lives.  When  on  earth  He  submitted  to  be 
ministered  unto.  Men  and  women  loved  Him  in 
the  days  of  His  pilgrimage  and  tended  Him.  Martha 
and  other  holy  women  sometimes  cumbered  them- 
selves with  much  serving  of  Him,  and  found  delight 
in  doing  it.  He  accepted  hospitality,  went  out  to 
the  little  home  in  Bethany,  where  He  would  rest 
and  be  served.     Peter  would  be  proud  to  wash  His 


CHRIST'S    SERVICE    OF   LOVE     25 

feet.  The  disciples  would  minister  to  Him  when 
and  where  they  could.  Loving  women  went  to  His 
sepulchre  to  anoint  His  body,  and  give  it  the  last 
sweet  ministrations.  But  He  did  not  come  for  all 
this — not  to  be  ministered  unto,  but  Himself  to 
minister. 

We  also  in  our  measure  can  minister  to  Him.  He 
said  that  a  cup  of  cold  water  to  one  of  His  little  ones 
was  given  to  Him.  Whatever  we  do  in  His  spirit  for 
men  is  done  for  Him.  Many  a  ministry  of  the  Lord 
is  possible  to  us.  If  we  are  His  disciples  we  will 
seek  to  serve  Him  in  the  ways  that  He  loved  to 
serve.  Inevitable  as  this  is  and  needful  as  it  is 
both  for  our  own  sake  and  for  the  sake  of  others, 
yet  He  did  not  come  that  we  might  do  this  for  Him. 
He  came  to  do  something  for  us.  It  is  possible  for 
us  to  be  so  taken  up  with  all  our  religious  activities 
that  we  may  forget  to  wait  to  let  Christ  do  His 
work  upon  ourselves.  Our  Communion  season  comes 
to  us,  calling  a  halt,  reminding  us  that  it  is  true  for 
us  also,  as  for  the  disciples  of  old,  that  the  Son  of 
Man  came  not  to  be  ministered  unto  but  to  minister. 
It  is  good  to  cease  from  serving  sometimes,  and  let 
Christ  serve  us. 

This  is  one  of  the  chief  lessons  of  our  holy  Com- 
munion.   We  are  not  hosts  here  at  all,  taking  charge 


26     CHRIST'S    SERVICE    OF   LOVE 

and  dispensing  benefits.  We  come  as  guests  simply. 
We  bring  nothing  to  the  feast  except  need,  nothing 
except  hunger  and  thirst  after  righteousness.  We 
do  not  make  the  provision :  we  only  come  to  partake. 
He  is  the  Giver  and  the  Gift.  He  prepares  the  feast, 
invites  us  all  unworthy,  omits  not  one  gracious  act  of 
courtesy,  breaks  the  bread,  gives  us  the  wine  of  His 
love.  The  Son  of  Man  came  to  minister,  let  Him 
minister.  It  is  His  pleasure  to  serve,  let  Him  serve. 
It  is  His  joy  to  give,  let  Him  give.  We,  perhaps, 
would  like  to  be  always  serving  like  Martha,  bustling 
about  our  little  activities.  There  was  a  better  part 
than  even  serving  Jesus,  a  better  part  which  Mary 
chose.  After  all  we  come  to  His  Table  not  because 
we  are  worthy,  not  because  our  faith  or  love  or 
strength  or  service  gives  us  a  warrant,  but  just  be- 
cause He  asks  us,  and  offers  us  His  love  and  strength. 
To  some  it  is  hard  to  make  this  submission,  to  own 
this  complete  dependence ;  as  in  daily  life  it  is  hard 
for  some  active  men  to  let  others  do  work  which 
they  themselves  like  doing.  To  some  this  is  the  hard- 
est thing  to  bear  in  times  of  illness  and  weakness. 
They  hate  being  laid  aside,  and  instead  of  minister- 
ing to  others,  having  others  ministering  to  tliera.  To 
be  useless,  to  be  dependent,  is  the  sorest  item  in  their 
trouble.     It  is  partly  pride,  and  partly  their  active 


CHRIST'S    SERVICE    OF   LOVE     27 

habits,  the  unusualness  of  having  others  do  for  them 
what  they  used  to  do  for  themselves  and  for  others. 
People  who  are  always  well,  always  strong,  always 
active,  have  sometimes  a  certain  hardness;  and  this 
is  often  one  of  the  sweet  ministries  of  sickness,  that 
it  teaches  dependence  and  willingness  to  give  up  and 
let  others  bear  the  burden.  That  is  why  sickness  so 
often  aids  faith ;  for  faith  means  to  be  broken  of  our 
self-sufficiency  and  to  know  our  need  and  our  poverty 
of  soul ;  faith  is  just  to  accept  humbly  and  gratefully. 
It  is  to  submit  to  the  Son  of  Man  who  came  not  to  be 
ministered  unto  but  to  minister.  It  is  to  confess  our 
absolute  need  of  Him,  to  depend  utterly  on  Him, 
to  let  Him  take  us  and  feed  us  and  save  us  and  keep 
us.  It  is  to  be  willing  to  take  grace  as  a  gift  not  of 
merit,  to  take  peace  as  a  gift  not  an  attainment  ("My 
peace  I  give  unto  you"),  to  take  everything  as  a  gift, 
to  be  humble  and  receptive  and  accept  the  ministry 
of  the  Son  of  Man. 

There  is  a  true  Quietism,  which  is  the  heart  of  all 
Mysticism,  in  which  a  man  is  quiet,  submissive, 
empty  of  self-will,  realising  that  the  perfect  spiritual 
state  is  reached  not  by  struggle  but  by  submission, 
not  by  the  active  exercise  of  will  but  by  waiting  on 
God,  that  the  soul  is  fed  by  constant  meditation  on 
divine  things,  and  Communion  is  just  opening  the 


28     CHRIST'S    SERVICE    OF   LOVE 

heart  to  let  Christ  in  to  sup  with  us  and  to  sen^e  us. 
'Not  our  will  but  His  will :  not  our  way  but  His  way : 
not  our  work  but  His  work:  we  cannot  spread  a 
feast  for  the  Master  but  He  furnishes  our  table  for 
us,  and  we  are  content  to  have  it  so.  It  says  in  sweet 
humility  with  the  Psalmist:  "Surely  I  have  behaved 
and  quieted  myself  as  a  child  that  is  weaned  of  his 
mother :  my  soul  is  even  as   a  weaned  child." 

Is  not  this  humble  receptiveness  the  true  mood 
and  attitude  for  us  at  the  Sacrament  of  the  Lord's 
Supper  ?  It  is  His  Supper.  We  have  no  place  there, 
except  as  those  who  need  and  who  come  at  His  gra- 
cious invitation  to  accept.  In  Communion  we  celebrate 
nothing  in  us,  but  all  in  Him.  We  are  not  celebrating 
our  faith  or  constancy  or  love,  but  His.  Christ's 
love  does  not  depend  on  our  faith,  but  our  faith 
depends  on  His  love.  Our  service  depends  on  His 
love,  also.  We  need  to  feed  our  faith  there  if  we  are 
to  serve  Him  at  all.  "If  any  man  serve  Me,  let  him 
follow  Me."  The  way  to  serve  is  to  be  a  disciple: 
to  sit  at  His  feet,  to  learn  of  Him,  to  submit  to  Him. 
Before  we  can  do  His  work  we  must  drink  of  His 
spirit  and  let  Him  teach  us  His  secret.  Before  we 
can  serve  Him  we  must  be  humble  enough  to  let  Him 
serve  us.  "Behold,"  said  Thomas  a  Kempis,  "all 
things  are  Thine  which  I  have  and  whereby  I  serve 


CHRIST'S    SERVICE    OF   LOVE     29 

Thee.    And  yet  contrariwise  Thou  rather  servest  me 
than  I  Thee." 

This  is  the  root  of  our  faith,  the  source  of  our 
strength,  and  the  very  heart  of  our  Communion: 
namely,  that  the  Son  of  Man  came  not  to  be  min- 
istered unto  but  to  minister.  There  are  other  as- 
pects of  religion,  the  fight  of  faith,  the  witness  to  the 
truth,  Christian  duties,  Christian  service,  and  the 
whole  issue  in  practice  of  Christian  love,  but  this 
first,  and  this  last  also,  and  this  all  the  time,  that 
our  spiritual  life  depends  utterly  on  Christ.  The 
bread  and  the  wine  are  symbols  of  this  dependence ; 
for  they  are  symbols  of  His  love.  Creep  close  to 
the  warmth  of  His  love:  get  near  to  the  source  of 
all  your  peace  and  joy  and  service.  Let  the  Son  of 
Man  minister  to  you,  serve  you  with  His  own  sweet 
courtesy. 

There  will  not 

One  loving  usage  be  forgot 

By  Thee;  Thy  kiss  will  greet 

Us  entering;  Thou  wilt  not  disdain 

To  wash  away  each  guilty  stain 

From  off  our  soilM  feet. 

We  enter  ;  from  this  time  to  prove 

Thy  hospitality  and  love 

Shewn  towards  the  meanest  guest. 


n 

CHRISTIAN  OPTIMISM 

f'  The  Lord  Jesus  the  same  night  in  which  He  was  betrayed  took 
bread,  and  when  He  had  given  thanks  He  brake  it. — 1  Corin- 
thians xi.  23. 

That  night  in  which  Jesus  was  betrayed  seems  the 
climax  of  human  sin,  the  cuhnination  of  all  the  evil 
in  the  world  and  in  man.  It  reads  like  the  absolute 
and  irrevocable  condemnation  of  human  nature. 
What  have  we  to  say  about  ourselves  when  such  a 
situation  was  possible?  If  ever  good  entered  the 
world  in  the  unearthly  beauty  of  holiness  and  the 
aublTTTie_ten(lerness  of  love,  it  Hid  so  in  the  pi^esence 
of  Jesusjimong  men.  His  life  could  be  summed  up 
in  the  sentence,  "He  went  about  doing  good":  His 
words  were  full  of  heavenly  music:  by  speech  and 
deed  He  revealed  God  as  One  whose  desire  was 
towards  men.  The  gentleness  and  compassion  and 
sweet  grace  and  stainless  purity  of  this  Man  might 
well  give  others  who  saw  Him  new  hope  for  human- 
ity ;  and,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  true  hearts  were  drawm 

30 


CHRISTIAN    OPTIMISM  31 

out  to  Him  in  love  and  hope.  I^ever  man  spake  like 
this  Man ;  never  man  lived  like  Him.  And  this  was 
the  end !  Malice  and  hatred  and  evil  passion  inflamed 
the  men  in  authority:  only  indifference,  or  the  light 
regard  that  is  easily  swayed  either  for  or  against, 
marked  the  attitude  of  the  mass  of  the  people;  and 
in  the  inner  circle  of  friends  there  were  weakness 
and  cowardice  and  treachery. 

It  was  the  night  of  the  betrayal,  when  enemies 
without  and  the  false  friend  within  found  their  MD'^ 
victim,  when  love  and  truth  and  goodness  were  en- 
gulfed by  evil,  when  hell  had  its  highest  triumph^ 
Human  sin  seemed  too  strong  for  divine  goodness. 
If  goodness  is  here  thus  utterly  overthrown,  what 
hope  for  it  elsewhere  ?  It  was  a  pitched  battle  be- 
tween the  forces  of  moral  good  and  evil,  and  there 
seemed  no  doubt  as  to  which  side  could  claim  the 
victory.  Is  it  that  good  is  in  essential  nature  weaker 
than  evil,  as  the  prophet's  prevision  of  such  a  case 
implies:  "He  made  his  grave  with  the  wicked  and 
with  the  rich  in  His  death,  because  he  had  done  no 
violence,  neither  was  any  deceit  in  His  mouth"  ? 
Must  good  be  ever  thus  defeated,  prematurely  cut  off 
out  of  the  land  of  the  living?  Are  they  that 
be  against  such  a  life  more  than  they  that  be 
for  it  ? 


32  CHRISTIAN    OPTIMISM 

It  is  no  idle  speculation  this.  It  concerns  us 
vitally.  It  affects  our  whole  view  of  God  and  the 
universe  and  life  and  human  nature  itself.  What 
are  we  to  think  of  our  prospects  as  a  race,  if  this 
triumph  of  evLl  represents  history  and  destiny  ?  Must 
we  despair  that  good  can  ever  be  the  final  goal  of 
ill  ?  The  whole  complexion  of  thought  and  character 
and  life  will  ultimately  be  determined  by  the  answer 
we  give;  and  it  is  unworthy  of  us  to  give  a  blind 
answer,  a  conclusion  that  has  no  grounds  of  fact  on 
which  it  can  securely  rest.  The  blind  answer  is  com- 
mon enough,  the  conclusion  which  refuses  to  consider 
all  the  facts.  Such  answers  have  even  been  elevated 
into  rival  systems  of  philosophy. 

On  the  one  side  there  is  a  shallow  optimism  which 
gaily  goes  on  its  way  both  in  theorising  and  in  living, 
shutting  its  eyes  to  the  existence  of  this  dread  con- 
flict between  good  and  evil.  It  ignores  sin  altogether. 
It  arrives  at  a  pleasant  conclusion  by  eliminating  the 
dark  facts  of  history  and  experience.  In  all  the 
varied  forms  of  theory  in  which  this  mood  clothes 
itself,  the  one  thing  found  in  them  all  is  that  it  treats 
sin  not  as  a  reality,  but  if  it  is  anything  at  all  it  is 
only  as  the  shadow  cast  by  light.  In  writers  like 
Emerson,  and  sometimes  even  Browning,  in  their 
cheerful  optimism  we  feel  this  lack  of  reality,  we 


CHRISTIAN    OPTIMISM  33 

feel  that  their  hopefulness  has  most  of  its  being 
from  their  own  happy  temperament.  When  Emerson 
says  that  "the  carrion  in  the  sun  will  convert  itself 
to  grass  and  flowers,  and  man  though  in  brothels  or 
gaols  or  on  gibbets  is  on  his  way  to  all  that  is  good 
and  true,"  or  in  another  Essay,  that  "the  league  be- 
tween virtue  and  nature  engages  all  things  to  assume 
a  hostile  front  to  vice";  or  when  Browning  sings, 
"The  evil  is  null,  is  naught,  is  silence  implying 
sound,"  or  that  "All's  right  with  the  world" ;  while 
we  acknowledge  with  gratitude  the  strength  and 
comfort  such  brave  words  sometimes  give  us,  we  feel 
that  they  are  glossing  over  the  evidence  on  the  other 
side,  and  are  not  taking  a  serious  view  enough  of  the 
deadly  fact  of  sin. 

Others,  who  write  not  as  poets  but  from  the  point 
of  view  of  science,  also  practically  ignore  sin,  and 
treat  it  slightingly,  either  as  some  petty  human  in- 
firmity or  as  a  necessity  of  human  nature.  Though 
at  first  sight  this  looks  a  very  convenient  and  pleasant 
attitude,  as  if  we  might  take  a  bright  and  cheerful 
view  of  ourselves,  in  essence  it  is  a  degradation  of 
man;  for  it  really  denies  us  moral  freedom,  denies 
that  we  are  responsible  beings.  It  naturally  also 
makes  light  of  redemption;  for  if  there  is  no  real 
moral  evil,  there  is  no  need  of  redemption.    It  turns 


34  CHRISTIAN    OPTIMISM 

the  work  of  Christ  into  a  farce,  an  idle  spectacle,  if 
not  a  complete  mistake ;  and  this  same  night,  when 
Jesus  was  betrayed,  has  no  significance.  Such  a 
blind  answer  as  this  shallow  optimism  to  onr  prob- 
lem about  the  conflict  of  good  and  evil  cannot  help 
us;  for  it  only  answers  by  asserting  that  there  is  no 
problem. 

On  the  opposite  extreme  there  is  the  answer  of 
pessimism,  which  has  far  more  affinity  with  the 
Christian  position ;  for  it  at  least  acknowledges  some 
of  the  facts.  It  sees  all  the  wrong  and  sin  and  shame 
and  misery  of  earth  back  to  the  dawn  of  history,  all 
the  cruelty  and  agony  up  till  now  with  which  the 
whole  creation  groaneth  and  travaileth;  and  it  sees 
nothing  but  evil.  It  declares  that  the  world  is  hope- 
lessly and  incurably  evil.  It  is  an  answer  of  despair, 
and  at  the  best  can  only  counsel  acquiescence  in  the 
inevitable ;  for  it  takes  the  heart  out  of  all  effort  after 
reformation  and  improvement.  If  it  looked  at  this 
scene  of  the  betrayal  night,  it  would  simply  say.  What 
else  would  you  expect  ?  That  is  just  as  it  has  always 
been  and  will  always  be.  It  is  only  another  evidence 
of  the  inherent  evil  of  the  world.  We  have  said  that 
the  Christian  view  has  much  in  common  with  this; 
for  they  both  accept  the  facts,  the  hideous  evils  that 
surround  and  menace  life.     They  both  have  a  con- 


CHRISTIAN    OPTIMISM  35 

tempt  for  the  superficial  optimism  which  neglects  the 
dark  facts,  the  forces  of  evil  in  the  world,  the  facts  of 
human  weakness  and  sin,  the  pollution  and  ruin,  and 
corruption  that  is  in  the  world  through  lust. 

But  hereafter  they  separate  company.  Chris- 
tianity no  more  denies  the  existence  of  good  than  the 
existence  of  evil;  and  it  believes  with  all  its  soul 
that  ultimately  good  will  overcome  evil.  It  looks 
upon  the  world  as  an  arena  of  struggle,  of  fierce  moral 
warfare  between  good  and  evil.  It  looks  for  peace, 
not  by  evading  the  power  of  evil  but  by  laying  it  low 
on  the  stricken  field.  This  sublime  faith  is  reached, 
not  by  careful  balancing  of  facts  on  either  side  and 
striking  an  average,  but  by  faith  in  God,  in  His  will 
and  His  love.  It  takes  courage  from  the  attitude 
of  Christ  on  this  very  crisis,  as  well  as  through  all  His 
life  and  teaching.  If  any  might  despair  as  He  went 
out  to  His  divine  task  of  redemption  surely  our  Lord 
might.  For  the  small  beginnings  of  the  Kingdom 
He  had  but  a  little  patch  of  ground  prepared  for  a 
handful  of  seed — ground  poor  at  the  best  as  the  world 
counts  best;  some  of  it  stony  where  the  birds  of  the 
air  could  swoop  down  and  make  the  sowing  vain; 
some  of  it  overrun  with  weeds  which  would  choke 
the  seed.  The  short  day  of  His  ministry  was  near  the 
night,  and  there  was  left  for  His  great  purposes  a 


36  CHRISTIAN    OPTIMISM 

feeble  company  of  disciples,  not  influential  nor 
learned.  Can  they  be  relied  on  when  the  Master 
is  taken  ?  What  chance  has  Christ's  cause  against 
the  might  of  Rome  and  all  the  allied  powers  of  evil  ? 
The  disciples !  Why,  in  the  critical  moment  one  be- 
trayed Him,  another  denied  Him,  and  all  forsook 
Ilim  and  fled.  If  ever  despair  seemed  justified  it 
was  here. 

Yet,  in  the  face  of  all  the  evil  around,  and  the 
weakness  at  the  heart  of  the  cause,  Jesus  showed  the 
old  stedfast  courage  and  faith  which  never  left  Him. 
He  did  not  falter  and  turn  back  at  the  terrible  sight 
of  evil,  which  reached  its  climax  that  betrayal  night. 
Our  Lord's  optimism  took  all  that  into  account,  all 
that  the  direst  pessimism  could  suggest — and  more ; 
for  sin  had  a  darker  aspect  to  Him  than  ever  it  could 
have  to  us.  l^one  ever  spoke  with  such  pain  and 
sorrow  and  condemnation  of  the  evil  deeds  and  words 
and  thoughts  that  maim  life.  He  knew  what  was  in 
man,  knew  the  malice  and  passion  and  prejudice  of 
foes,  knew  the  possibilities  of  cowardice  and  weak- 
ness and  treachery  of  friends.  On  that  night  of 
betrayal  He  read  the  traitor's  heart  in  the  traitor's 
eye.  He  saw  the  cross  all  the  way  to  the  cross.  Its 
shadow  lay  athwart  His  path.  When  He  met  the 
disciples  that  night  in  the  upper  chamber  at  the  love- 


CHRISTIAN    OPTIMISM  37 

feast,  He  knew  that  the  same  night  He  was  being 
betrayed. 

There  is  in  His  calm  confident  words  no  sugges- 
tion of  failure.  He  is  sure  of  the  future,  sure  that 
love  is  stronger  than  hate,  and  good  mightier  than 
evil,  and  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  the  one  eternal 
reality  of  the  universe.  He  is  sure  of  that  because 
He  is  sure  of  God.  He  goes  on  legislating  for  the 
future  of  His  Church,  calmly  telling  His  disciples 
what  they  are  to  do  in  memory  of  Him.  Our  Lord's 
attitude  that  night  He  was  betrayed  was  not  merely 
the  spasm  of  courage  with  which  many  a  man  will 
brace  himself  up  in  face  of  a  supreme  crisis.  It  is 
consistent  with  all  His  previous  life  and  teaching. 
He  never  took  the  gloomy  despairing  view  of  human 
nature  common  with  our  picturesque  pessimists.  He 
believed  in  men  because  He  believed  in  man,  believed 
in  the  divine  possibilities  of  his  nature.  He  saw 
past  the  flaws  and  surface  distortions,  and  recog- 
nised him  as  made  in  the  image  of  God,  however 
much  that  image  had  been  despoiled.  Where  others 
saw  despair.  He  saw  hope.  Classes  that  others  gave 
up  as  hopeless.  He  called  to  their  high  vocation  as 
sons  of  God.  He  believed  in  the  progress  of  good 
and  its  ultimate  triumph.  He  taught  that  the  King- 
dom of  Heaven  was  like  leaven  that  would  yet  leaven 


38  CHRISTIAN    OPTIMISM 

the  whole  lump,  or  as  a  mustard  seed  that  would  grow 
to  the  greatest  of  trees. 

The  Christian  view,  therefore,  looks  to  a  new 
heaven  and  a  new  earth  wherein  dwelleth  righteous- 
ness. We  believe  in  the  love  of  God,  in  His  benefi- 
cent will,  in  His  purpose  to  redeem.  It  inspires  the 
Church  to  watch  and  pray  and  labour  and  suffer 
and  wait.  Such  a  faith  is  the  soul  of  every  progress, 
of  every  consecrated  life,  of  every  high  duty,  and  of 
every  noble  passion.  It  is  a  fountain  of  hope  and 
of  endeavour.  Even  where  sin  is  seen  to  abound 
(and  to  what  eye  is  sin  so  sinful  as  the  Christian 
eye?),  grace  is  seen  much  more  to  abound.  Where 
evil  is  seen  scattering  ruin  and  desolation,  God  is 
seen  working  out  His  redemptive  purpose.  The 
cross  of  Christ  is  the  pledge  and  the  promise  of  this. 
Hope,  and  faith,  and  love  grow  from  that  blessed  tree. 
How  can  we  lose  faith  or  hope  or  love,  so  long  as  we 
remember  that  same  night  when  Jesus  was  betrayed 
and  yet  showed  His  Kingship  ? 

That  betrayal  night  was  the  climax  of  human  sin ; 
but  it  was  also  the  climax  of  some  other  things  of 
even  more  importance.  Who  can  tell  what  was  in 
Judas's  heart,  the  jealousy  or  wounded  ambition  or 
covetousness  ?     For  three  years  he  had  been  in  the 


CHRISTIAN    OPTIMISM  39 

little  company,  shared  the  difficulties  and  triumphs, 
hopes  and  fears,  received  the  teaching,  joined  in  the 
prayers,  and  this  was  the  end,  a  lost  soul,  given  over 
to  hatred!  The  same  night  in  which  He  was  be- 
trayed, "the  devil  having  put  it  into  the  heart  of 
Judas  Iscariot  to  betray  Him,  Jesus  took  a  towel  and 
girded  Himself.  After  that  He  poureth  water  into  a 
basin  and  began  to  wash  the  disciples'  feet" — the 
feet  of  Judas  also !  That  was  the  answer  to  the  evil 
that  surged  in  the  dark  heart.  That  was  the  divine 
answer  to  the  hatred  that  seemed  to  succeed.  The 
climax  of  sin  was  the  climax  of  love.  When  evil  was 
at  its  worst,  good  was  at  its  best.  They  were  there 
in  the  same  room  on  the  same  night,  the  highest  be- 
side the  lowest.  When  hate  broke  out  in  passion, 
love — love  triumphant — held  her  secure  sway.  Did 
not  the  best  overcome  the  worst  after  all,  in  spite  of 
appearances?  Witness  that  scene  when  the  Master 
stooped  to  wash  their  feet  the  same  night  in  which 
He  was  betrayed.  Who  shall  despair  after  that  tri- 
umph? Who  shall  say  that  love  has  not  the  last 
word  after  all  ?  The  Lord  Jesus  the  same  night  He 
was  betrayed  washed  the  traitor's  feet. 

"The  Lord  Jesus  the  same  night  in  which  He  was 
betrayed,  gave  thanks."     In  the  assurance  of  ulti- 


40  CHRISTIAN    OPTIMISM 

mate  triumph,  the  certainty  that  His  work  was 
finished,'  He  gave  thanks.  For  Himself  and  for  His 
little  ones  who  believed  and  should  believe  on  Him, 
He  gave  thanks.  That  His  Father  in  Heaven  had 
led  Him  and  brought  Him  up  to  this  last  step.  He 
gave  thanks.  He  beheld  Satan  as  lightning  fall  from 
heaven,  and  knew  that  His  work  was  accepted  and 
would  go  on  to  the  final  triumph.  The  climax  of  sin 
was  also  the  climax  of  faith  as  well  as  of  love.  Faith 
found  its  assurance  in  God's  redeeming  love,  and  our 
Lord  in  His  seeming  defeat  knew  that  the  old  word 
would  be  fulfilled,  "He  will  swallow  up  death  in 
victory;  and  the  Lord  God  will  wipe  away  all  tears 
from  off  all  faces." 

"The  Lord  Jesus  the  same  night  He  was  betrayed 
took  bread,  and  brake  it,  and  said :  Take,  eat ;  this 
is  My  body  which  is  broken  for  you."  The  night  of 
the  betrayal  was  the  night  of  the  redemption.  When 
hell  raged,  heaven  was  opened.  Wlien  the  despair  of 
men  seemed  fixed,  the  hope  of  man  arose.  The  way 
of  sorrow  led  out  to  the  way  of  salvation.  We  know 
that  "our  redemption  draweth  nigh."  The  climax 
of  sin  was  the  climax  of  hope  also.  Love,  faith,  and 
hope,  for  us  also  as  for  our  Lord,  came  to  us  from 
the  same  night  in  which  He  was  betrayed.     We 


CHRISTIAN    OPTIMISM  41 

feed  our  souls  from  the  same  source  this  day  as  we 
sit  at  the  Table  and  remember  all  that  happened  the 
same  night  in  which  He  was  betrayed. 

Shall  it  again  be  that  any  who  take  the  broken 
bread  shall  betray  or  deny  or  forsake  Him,  and  keep 
back  the  triumph  of  good  ?  Shall  we  hinder  instead 
of  help  the  world  in  its  steep  ascent  to  God? 
Under  which  King,  to  which  rival  dominion,  shall  we 
give  our  lives? 


Ill 

THE  CURE  FOR  CARE 

In  the  multitude  of  my  thoughts  within  me,  Thy  comforts  delight 
my  soul. — Psalm  xciv.  19. 

This  psalm  is  a  cry  for  help  against  the  insolence 
and  cruelty  of  Israel's  oppressors,  evidently  at  a 
time  when  the  nation  has  been  under  the  heel  of 
heathen  conquerors.  It  begins  with  an  appeal  to  God 
as  the  righteous  Judge  to  put  an  end  to  the  tyranny 
of  wicked  rulers  who  crush  the  weak  and  "break  in 
pieces  Thy  people,  O  Lord."  It  passes  from  a  cry 
to  God  into  an  appeal  to  the  people,  reminding  them 
of  the  argument  for  faith,  an  argument  all  the  greater 
because  of  their  dire  necessity.  God  is  not  indiffer- 
ent, nor  ignorant.  He  who  planted  the  ear  hears, 
and  He  who  formed  the  eye  sees.  He  knows  at 
once  the  arrogant  inhumanity  of  the  oppressors,  and 
the  sorrows  of  His  people.  For  the  one  there  is  a 
day  of  retribution ;  for  the  other  a  day  of  redemption. 
There  is  a  divine  purpose  to  be  wrought  out  through 
all  the  struggle  and  the  sorrow,  a  purpose  of  moral 
discipline  and  a  purpose  of  supreme  love.     "The 

43 


THE    CURE    FOR    CARE  43 

Lord  will  not  cast  off  His  people,  neither  will  He 
forsake  His  inheritance."  There  is  no  help  for  them 
but  in  God  against  their  blood-thirsty  tyrants,  but 
it  is  much  for  them  to  realise  that  in  the  deepest 
straits  and  the  darkest  passes  of  life  there  is  unfailing 
help  in  God.  It  is  everything  to  know  that  He  stands 
by  their  side ;  and  faith  sees  not  only  that  God  will 
deliver  them  in  the  future,  but  that  He  has  been 
with  them  even  through  all  their  sore  trial. 

The  Psalmist  quietens  his  soul  by  his  comforting 
faith.  With  spiritual  insight  he  sees  something  of 
the  meaning  of  discipline,  and  sees  the  hand  of  God 
in  the  dark  passage  through  the  cloud  as  well  as  in 
the  brightness  of  the  ultimate  deliverance.  In  the 
terror  and  despair  of  the  crushing  affliction  he  may 
ask  as  though  there  were  no  answer,  "Who  will  rise 
up  for  me  against  the  evil-doers?  Who  will  stand 
up  for  me  against  the  workers  of  iniquity  ?"  But  he 
sees  as  in  a  flash,  that  all  the  time,  even  in  the 
climax  of  the  sorrow,  God  has  been  more  than 
standing  up  for  him,  has  been  standing  with 
him,  has  been  actually  by  his  side.  He  sees  that 
if  the  Lord  had  not  been  his  help  all  would  have 
been  ended  long  since.  "When  I  said,  my  foot 
hath  slipped.  Thy  mercy,  O  Lord,  was  holding 
me  up."     It  is  a  vivid  figure  of  compassing  grace. 


44  THE    CURE    FOR    CARE 

In  the  very  crisis  when  all  seemed  over  and  he  gave 
himself  up  for  lost,  when  he  felt  that  at  last  all  was 
gone,  when  he  said  "my  foot  hath  slipped,"  he  dis- 
covered that  love  had  gripped  him  and  was  holding 
him  all  the  time.  Amid  wickedness,  rampant  and 
triumphant,  enmity  without  and  trouble  within,  he 
entered  into  peace  through  the  assurance  of  God's 
presence.  In  the  multitude  of  my  thoughts  (doubts, 
distracting  cares,  the  tumult  of  heart  and  brain) ,  Thy 
comforts  delight  my  soul.  There  is  a  refuge  from 
all  the  storms  of  life,  a  place  of  repair,  where  the 
soul  gathers  strength.  When  fearful  thoughts  and 
sorrowful  cares  crowd  upon  the  mind  and  jostle  each 
other  like  following  waves  to  engulf  the  soul,  there 
is  sweet  solace  and  comforting  peace  in  simple  faith 
in  God. 

Times  alter  and  circumstances  change,  but  the 
essentials  of  life  remain,  and  this  cry  of  a  wounded 
heart  is  the  human  cry  and  we  can  interpret  the 
psalm  for  our  own  individual  needs  and  personal  sit- 
uation. The  way  to  peace  for  us  to-day,  as  in  this 
echo  of  a  long-past  time,  is  in  the  assurance  of  God. 
This  is  the  one  need  of  man's  heart.  We  do  not 
realise  what  it  is  for  a  human  soul  to  become  sure 
of  God.  It  is  the  great  discovery  which  changes 
the  world.     We  are  set  in  the  midst  of  strife  and 


THE    CURE    FOR    CARE  45 

perplexity,  but  worse  than  the  tumult  outside  is  the 
tumult  within.  Cares  and  doubts  and  fears  seem 
set  in  the  midst  of  us.  There  can  be  no  abiding  con- 
solation and  no  complete  solution  of  the  riddle  of 
life,  no  safe  refuge,  except  somewhere  within  where 
the  soul  can  find  rest.  If  life  is  meaningless,  empty 
of  any  spiritual  purpose,  the  world  is  a  place  of  de- 
spair as  much  to  us  as  the  terrible  situation  depicted 
by  the  Psalmist  of  old.  We,  like  him,  and  as  much  as 
him,  need  the  comfort  of  God's  love  for  the  multitude 
of  our  cares. 

What  cares  these  are,  and  what  a  multitude  of 
them!  Who  can  number  them,  or  classify  them 
exhaustively?  The  old  hag.  Care,  sits  close  behind 
the  rider,  and  goes  with  him  where  he  goes  and  will 
not  be  shaken  off.  There  are  personal  cares:  for 
example,  the  pressure  of  necessities,  the  troubles 
and  anxieties,  disappointments  and  unfulfilments, 
pain  of  body,  distress  of  mind,  grief  of  heart,  sor- 
row of  soul.  It  is  a  world  of  strife,  a  world  of  loss, 
a  world  of  sin ;  and  who  can  give  name  to  the  multi- 
tude of  thoughts  and  cares  bred  by  strife  and  loss 
and  sin?  Sorer,  perhaps,  than  personal  cares  are 
some  of  the  cares  for  otliers  which  oppress  many 
a  heart.  A  father  toils  in  weakening  strength  with 
taunting  fears  of  what  the  future  will  bring  to  those 


46  THE    CURE    FOR    CARE 

he  loves  best  when  strength  at  last  gives  out.  A 
mother  waits  in  tears  for  the  footfall  of  a  son,  with 
dread  for  his  coming,  or  greater  dread  that  he  come 
not.  We  can  fill  up  many  a  story  from  such  vague 
hints  of  the  outlines. 

There  is  nothing  the  heart  of  man  needs  more  than 
a  message  of  courage  and  hope  and  confidence.  And 
where  is  such  a  message  possible  except  as  a  message 
of  faith?  We  might  learn  indifference  or  callous- 
ness by  other  means.  We  might  learn  to  lay  down 
our  arms  and  give  up  the  burden  of  care  by  some 
counsel  of  despair.  But  there  is  no  comfort  in  any 
real  sense  except  in  a  message  of  faith.  Only  as  we 
learn  to  trust  in  God's  love  and  become  sure  of  His 
loving  purpose  can  we  gather  true  comfort.  And 
this  is  one  of  the  deep  meanings  of  to-day's  sacra- 
ment. It  means  that  we  are  not  alone,  that  God 
loves  us  and  has  supplies  for  our  human  need.  When 
we  think  of  our  necessities  we  may  well  wonder  that 
we  do  not  come  eagerly  to  the  unfailing  source  of 
supply.  What  need  there  is  for  a  message  of  com- 
fort and  hope  to  all  of  us  in  this  great  pilgrimage 
of  life!  It  is  a  sad  and  sorrowful  world  in  spite 
of  all  the  gleams  of  sunshine  and  happiness  that  come 
our  way.  We  are  living  thoughtless  lives  if  the  sit- 
uation of  this  psalm  have  no  sort  of  application  for 


THE    CURE    FOR    CARE  47 

our  modern  days.  We  may  not  know  the  grinding 
of  the  oppressor's  heel  as  Israel  knew  it  then,  and 
taste  of  the  arrogance  and  injustice  of  the  strong,  and 
have  to  watch  with  helpless  hand  the  cruelty  of  law- 
lessness when  the  widow  and  the  stranger  and  the 
orphan  are  wronged  as  the  Psalmist  with  hot  heart 
had  to  watch,  but  we  have  blind  eye  and  sealed  ear 
and  shut  heart  if  we  have  not  learned  pity  for  the 
fathomless  pathos  of  human  life.  We  may  not,  like 
the  Psalmist,  have  tottered  at  the  edge  of  the  abyss 
and  felt  that  our  foot  had  slipped,  but  we  have  lived 
a  shallow  life  if  we  have  never  learned  that  the  abyss 
is  there  for  us  all.  We  may  not,  like  him,  be  over- 
whelmed with  distracting  thoughts  and  perplexing 
doubts  and  nameless  fears,  but  if  we  pass  it  by  as 
a  poem  of  an  olden  time  picturing  evil  that  has 
no  counterpart  to-day,  we  are  living  in  a  fool's 
paradise. 

The  world  is  built  as  if  for  discipline,  and  its 
one  need  is  comfort  of  some  sort.  There  is  so  much 
pain  and  sorrow  and  tears,  so  much  darkness  and 
weakness  and  sin,  so  much  unrest  and  dispeace  and 
distress.  There  is  sorrow  on  the  sea  as  it  moans 
and  breaks  on  the  shores  of  life.  And  if  we  will 
but  look  resolutely  at  ourselves,  what  life  does  not 
know  its  troubles  without  and  fears  within,  its  dark 


48  THE    CURE    FOR    CARE 

moments,  its  difficult  i:)asses,  its  dangers  and  dis- 
tresses? Men  live  in  the  shadow,  oppressed  with 
care  and  anxiety,  burdened  with  loads  too  heavy, 
harassed  with  fears  and  doubts.  There  are  many 
lonely  lives,  and  tempted  lives,  and  hearts  that  have 
said  good-bye  to  happiness,  and  souls  of  men  that  are 
full  of  bitterness  and  despair.  ''In  the  multitude  of  my 
distracting  cares  within  me,"  is  not  that  a  description 
which  in  some  form  or  other  will  fit  many  a  case  ? 
)  And  for  every  such  and  all  such  there  is  no  other 
permanent  refuge,  no  other  abiding  comfort,  except 
faith  in  God's  eternal  love.  When  the  black  clouds 
drift  across  the  sky  and  the  storms  beat  upon  the 
house  of  life,  what  chance  for  safety  if  it  be  not 
founded  upon  that  rock?  What  chance  for  peace  if 
we  do  not  live  above  the  flood-mark  of  the  deep? 
There  is  no  true  argument  against  care  except  the 
argument  for  faith.  Our  Lord  based  all  His  teach- 
ing on  this  argument  pointing  ever  to  the  Father's 
love,  and  Himself  walked  with  sure  tread  and  drank 
the  cup  of  human  life  and  tasted  what  it  is  for  a 
man  to  die,  with  His  heart  fixed  on  God,  with  the 
divine  comforts  delighting  His  soul.  "Let  not  your 
heart  be  troubled,  neither  let  it  be  afraid,  believe,'* 
He  said.  The  only  cure  for  care  is  the  cure  of  faith. 
This  is  the  comfort  that  balances  the  care.     And 


^       THE    CURE    FOR    CARE  49 

this  is  why  our  Christian  faith  has  a  message  to  a 
sad  and  sorrowful  world,  a  message  of  hope  and 
comfort  and  peace  so  that  the  believer  to-day  can 
take  into  his  mouth  with  deeper  assurance  the  words 
of  the  afflicted  Psalmist,  "In  the  multitude  of  my 
thoughts  within  me,  Thy  comforts  delight  my  soul." 

It  does  not  mean  that  trial  is  taken  away,  that 
life  now  loses  its  discipline.  ISTay,  the  cares  and 
troubles  and  fears  have  still  to  be  met,  but  the  sting 
of  them  is  cured.  Pain  there  still  is,  loss  still  comes, 
difficulties  still  arise,  they  may  come  in  their  multi- 
tude, but  in  the  midst  of  them  there  are  comforts 
that  help  us  to  bear  them  and  even  delight  the  soul. 
There  is  a  place  of  central  peace,  a  spot  of  rest  amid 
whirling  circumstance.  All  things  are  bearable  to 
the  man  who  believes.  He  sucks  comfort  from  every 
condition  and  tastes  delight  in  the  midst  of  care. 

What  is  this  faith  which  has  such  magical  power  ? 
It  simply  means  to  fall  back  upon  God,  to  trust  to 
His  love  and  live  in  the  secret  of  His  presence. 
Every  new  adventure,  every  fresh  trial,  every  sur- 
mounted difficulty  becomes  a  new  argument  for  faith. 
When  I  said,  My  foot  hath  slipped  this  time,  and 
everything  is  lost  at  last,  Thy  love,  O  Lord,  never  let 
me  go  but  all  the  time  had  firm  grip  of  me.  Look- 
ing back  you  see  it  has  been  so 


50  THE    CURE    FOR    CARE 

When  through  the  slippery  paths  of  youth 
With  heedless  steps  I  ran, 
Thine  arm  unseen  conveyed  me  safe 
And  led  me  up  to  man. 

We  learn  to  cast  our  care  upon  God  when  we 
know  that  He  cares  for  us,  and  this  is  the  meaning 
of  our  Communion.  It  has  many  a  message  and  many 
a  lesson,  but  its  deepest  message  and  sweetest  lesson 
is  that  of  comfort.  The  whole  symbolism  of  the 
service  speaks  of  comfort,  the  table  of  his  love,  the 
feast,  the  bread  and  the  wine,  the  gracious  Host 
who  spreads  the  table  for  us.  It  all  means  love, 
sleepless,  deathless  love.  If,  as  we  saw,  the  one 
remedy  for  care  is  to  be  sure  of  God's  love,  has  not 
this  made  us  sure  ?  Did  we  not  say  as  we  took  our 
portion  from  His  hand,  "Thy  comforts  delight  my 
soul"  ?  We  came  with  cares,  with  doubts,  and 
fears  and  distracting  thoughts  and  perplexing  trou- 
bles ;  or  we  came  with  sorrow  and  a  sense  of  loss,  but 
care  could  not  live  there  in  that  comforting  presence. 
The  deepest  lesson  of  Holy  Communion,  however 
we  interpret  it,  is  the  Real  Presence  of  Christ.  What 
trouble  or  distress  is  there  in  life  that  will  not  be 
dissipated  by  the  light  of  that  faith? 

But  the  season  of  Communion  will  have  failed  for 
us,  if  we  do  not  make  it  more  than  a  blessed  season 
with  a  glimpse  into  the  central  peace,  if  we  do  not 


THE    CURE    FOR    CARE  51 

make  it  a  type  of  what  every  season  should  be,  a  sym- 
bol of  what  all  life  should  become,  a  state  of  Com- 
munion, enjoying  the  comfort  of  peace  and  joy  at  all 
times.  The  remedy  for  care  is  to  know  the  love 
of  God  in  Christ,  and  that  remedy  is  open  to  us 
not  fitfully  and  casually,  but  always  and  everywhere. 
The  divine  comforts  which  delight  the  soul  are  not 
merely  the  comfort  of  hope  hereafter,  but  the  com- 
fort of  Communion  now,  realising  God's  love  at  every 
turn  of  the  road  and  walking  with  Him  through  this 
great  wilderness.  Trouble  and  pain  and  sorrow  and 
loss  are  still  facts  of  life;  we  have  to  meet  them 
as  all  flesh  must.  We  must  quiver  at  the  sting  of 
death  and  be  trampled  down  by  the  grave's  victory, 
but  we  go  not  alone,  and  even  in  the  valley  of  the 
shadow  of  death  we  need  fear  no  evil.  The  Chris- 
tian may  even  have  a  Gethsemane  as  his  Master  had, 
but  like  his  Master  he  will  find  angels  in  the  garden. 
"In  the  multitude  of  my  thoughts  within  me,  Thy 
comforts  delight  my  soul." 


IV 

THE  SOURCE  AND  ISSUE  OF  COMFORT 

Blessed  be  the  God,  and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the 
Father  of  mercies  and  Ood  of  all  comfort ;  who  comforteth  us  in 
all  our  affliction,  that  we  may  be  able  to  comfort  tltem  that  are  in  any 
affliction,  through  the  comfort  wherewith  we  ourselves  are  comforted 
of  Ood. — 3  Corinthians  i.  3-4. 

Theee  is  no  real  comfort  in  the  Bible  sense  apart 
from  faith.  Time  may  mitigate  or  assuage  or  harden, 
the  world  may  make  us  forget,  life  may  distract, 
work  may  fill  up  the  gap,  friends  may  cheer  and 
support,  but  only  God  can  comfort.  It  is  always  so 
in  the  Bible.  The  divine  comfort  is  the  only  comfort 
worth  speaking  of.  "Let  Thy  merciful  kindness  be 
for  my  comfort,"  prayed  the  Psalmist.  The  unfail- 
ing source  of  comfort  in  both  the  Old  and  the  JSTew 
Testaments  is  the  divine  presence.  "Our  Lord  Jesua 
Christ  Himself  and  God  our  Father  which  loved  us 
and  gave  us  eternal  comfort  and  good  hope,  through 
grace  comfort  your  hearts  and  stablish  them  in  every 
good  work  and  word,"  is  Paul's  desire  for  the  Thes- 
salonians.    "The  God  of  all  comfort,"  is  His  designa- 

52 


SOURCE    AND    ISSUE    OF    COMFORT     53 

tion,  from  whom  alone  can  consolation  come.  It 
is  only  a  man's  faith  can  cut  deep  down  to  the  roots 
of  his  life.  His  life  follows  the  fortunes  of  his 
faith.  Our  faith  settles  everything,  even  the  quality 
of  our  possible  comfort.  Of  course,  when  we  speak 
of  faith  we  mean  something  more  than  opinion  or 
ordinary  belief.  It  is  the  very  spirit  a  man  is  of, 
the  spirit  that  transfuses  his  personality.  God's 
highest  purpose  with  us  is  not  that  we  should  pos- 
sess but  that  we  should  become,  not  even  that  we 
should  believe  but  that  we  should  he.  His  end  for  us 
is  character.  Our  only  true  creed  is  found  there  in 
that  subtle  region,  the  creed  by  which  we  live.  All 
our  struggles,  intellectual  and  moral,  all  our  afflictions 
and  trials,  have  their  practical  justification  in  their 
effect  on  what  we  are. 

This  is  why  there  never  was  an  emptier  and  more 
ignorant  phrase  than  the  common  one  that  it  does  not 
matter  what  a  man  believes.  It  matters  intensely 
what  a  man  believes  for  the  simple  reason  that  the 
whole  of  life  is  coloured  by  what  the  faith  is.  Does 
it  make  no  difference,  for  example,  whether  a  man 
believes  in  a  God  who  is  a  devil,  or  in  no  God  at  all, 
or  in  the  God  of  St.  Paul,  "even  the  Father  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  Father  of  mercies  and  the 
God  of  all  comfort"?     Does  it  make  no  difference 


54     SOURCE    AND    ISSUE    OF    COMFORT 

that  a  man  should  believe  in  God's  purpose  with  this 
world  ?  And  does  it  make  no  difference  that  a  man 
should  believe,  regarding  himself,  in  a  personal  re- 
lationship with  that  God  and  in  a  life  of  service  and 
love  born  of  that  relation?  Your  faith  regarding 
these  three  cardinal  subjects  as  to  God,  the  world,  and 
self,  interpenetrates  your  life,  into  every  nook  and 
cranny  of  its  extent.  It  colours  all  that  is  yours, 
for  it  colours  you.  In  our  text  we  get  insight  into 
St.  Paul's  vital  faith,  and  we  get  some  indication  of 
that  view  of  God,  the  world,  and  self,  which  is  dis- 
tinctively Christian,  that  faith  which  if  a  man  be- 
lieves, makes  his  life  Christian. 

(1)  Faith,  then,  in  the  first  instance,  has  to  do 
with  God.  It  is  not  merely  to  believe  that  God  is 
which  constitutes  faith.  You  must  be  sure  of  some- 
thing that  you  mean  by  God ;  you  must  believe  some- 
thing regarding  His  nature  and  purpose  and  His 
desire  with  you  and  for  you.  Your  life  will  be  as 
your  faith  is — must  be.  If  God  be  to  you,  as  to  the 
man  of  the  parable,  as  an  hard  man  reaping  where 
He  has  not  sown  and  gathering  where  He  has  not 
strawed,  what  can  you  be  but  afraid,  and  what  can 
you  do  but  go  and  hide  your  talent  in  the  earth  ?  That 
is  the  inevitable  conclusion.  If  there  be  nothing 
above  you  but  a  dark  overmastering  dread,  and  noth- 


SOURCE    AND    ISSUE    OF    COMFORT     55 

ing  before  you  but  a  blank  despair,  what  can  you 
expect  to  be  and  to  do  ?  Or,  if  you  try  to  cozen  your- 
self into  the  belief  that  there  is  no  God,  nothing  but 
blind  chance  or  blinder  fate,  the  present  loses  its 
divine  purpose  for  you  and  the  future  loses  its  divine 
hope.  Destiny  without  God  is  a  riddle :  history  with- 
out God  is  a  tragedy.  But  if  God  be  to  you  what  He 
was  to  St.  Paul,  "the  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  the  Father  of  mercies  and  the  God  of  all 
comfort,"  does  not  life  assume  a  new  complexion  ?  If 
you  believe — not  accept  theoretically  but  believe  in 
your  heart  of  hearts,  grasp  as  the  fundamental  fact 
of  existence  for  you — if  you  believe  in  a  God  whom 
you  can  so  describe  with  these  words  of  St.  Paul, 
what  can  you  say,  but  thankfully,  adoringly  say, 
"Blessed  be  God"  ?  What  does  it  matter  what  a  man 
believes  about  God?  the  world  says.  TvTothing  else 
matters.  All  else  by  comparison  is  a  thing  of  indif- 
ference. 

All  the  Christian  facts  are  the  filling  up  of  this 
character  of  God,  describing  His  nature,  revealing 
His  purpose,  telling  us  what  He  is,  convincing  us  of 
His  love,  bringing  home  to  us  the  assurance  that  God 
is  our  Heavenly  Father,  with  a  heart  of  love  for  us, 
giving  us  eternal  comfort  and  good  hope  through 
grace.     All  the  gracious  things  of  the  Gospel  are 


56     SOURCE    AND    ISSUE    OF    COMFORT 

tokens  and  promises  that  it  is  so ;  and  to  have  a  faith 
in  God  like  that  of  St.  Paul  instead  of  being  a  thing 
of  no  moment,  is  the  one  thing  of  supremest  impor- 
tance to  a  human  soul.  Everything  else  follows  from 
our  attitude  here,  l^ot  only  our  life,  but  also  all 
our  other  faith,  follows  the  fortunes  of  this 
faith. 

(2)  Thus,  faith  does  not  end  with  giving  a  par- 
ticular view  of  God;  it  goes  on  to  enunciate  cor- 
responding views  of  the  other  two  important  subjects, 
self  and  the  world.  If  faith  had  not  a  relation  to 
self  touching  closely  the  personal  and  most  intimate 
life,  unbelief  would  be  justified  in  pronouncing  it 
of  little  moment.  But  the  Christian  personal  expe- 
rience goes  alongside  of  and  keeps  step  with  the 
higher  faith  in  the  person  and  nature  of  God.  You 
cannot  believe  in  the  kind  of  God  St.  Paul  describes 
without  going  further.  Such  a  faith  cannot  be  kept 
away  from  you  at  a  respectable  distance,  to  be  viewed 
as  an  interesting  theological  speculation.  It  comes 
near  you  a  faith  like  this,  touches  you  at  every  point, 
becomes  part  of  you.  It  is  vital,  palpitating  with 
living  interest  for  you  all  along  the  line  of  life.  God 
cannot  be  a  God  like  that — with  a  heart  of  love,  the 
Father  of  mercies,  the  God  of  all  comfort — without 
your  entering  into  personal  relationship  with  Him. 


SOURCE    AND    ISSUE    OF    COMFORT     57 

If  it  is  real  faith  it  must  work  itself  out  in  detail. 
Your  life  with  its  light  and  its  shadows,  with  its  ful- 
filments and  its  disappointments,  with  its  pleasures 
and  its  pains,  is  all  permeated  and  pervaded  by  your 
knowledge  of  the  love  of  God.  You  make  it  yours. 
You  appropriate  it  to  your  own  case  till  you  get  the 
personal  comfort  that  lies  in  the  bosom  of  that  com- 
forting faith.  It  affects  your  view  of  self  and  of  all 
self's  happenings.  The  past,  be  it  never  so  full  of 
sorrow,  is  glorified  by  that  love;  the  present,  be  it 
never  so  hard  and  bitter,  is  comforted  by  that  love; 
the  future,  be  it  never  so  darkened  by  lowering  clouds, 
is  assured  by  that  love.  'Not  only  can  you  say, 
''Blessed  be  God"  and  such  a  God,  describing  Him 
with  all  the  Christian  description  as  the  God  of  all 
comfort;  but  also  you  can  say,  "Blessed  be  God  who 
hath  comforted  me  in  all  my  affliction."  Your  gen- 
eral faith  works  itself  out  in  experience,  and  your 
experience  proves  and  guarantees  your  faith..  You 
are  tasting  comfort  from  its  unfailing  source,  and 
you  know  that  God  is  standing  near  you  comfort- 
ing your  heart  and  establishing  you  in  all  good. 
You  begin  to  be  sure  of  it.  You  are  getting  more 
sure  of  it  every  day  of  your  lives.  And,  oh,  to  be 
sure  of  it  is  to  have  solved  the  problem.  To  be 
able  to  say  what  St.  Paul  said  is  to  have  gained 


58     SOURCE    AND    ISSUE    OF    COMFORT, 

the  victory  of  the  ages,  and  to  have  the  sting  taken 
even  from  death. 

Let  us  bring  this  great  argument  home  to  our- 
selves and  face  the  complete  situation.  Have  we 
this  faith  and  experience  ?  Have  we  this  grip  on 
the  living  God,  which  turns  rough  to  smooth  and 
bitter  to  sweet — strange  alchemy!  When  the  pos- 
sibility is  presented  to  me,  if  I  had  to  give  up  what 
my  soul  loves  best,  if  I  were  to  be  struck  down  with 
palsied  strength  and  hang  a  broken  limb  on  the  tree 
of  life,  if  the  future  had  no  more  hope  as  I  have 
been  counting  hope,  and  the  present  no  more  joy 
as  my  heart  spells  joy,  could  I  meekly  say, 
"Blessed"  ?  Let  this  cup  pass  from  me.  Nay,  I 
cannot,  I  will  not,  it  is  too  much.  When  I  look 
with  stricken  eyes  at  the  worst,  I  cannot  bless  God, 
who  has  the  ordering  of  all  my  life,  that  He  should 
have  led  me  there,  the  God  who  is  the  overmastering 
Providence  of  my  every  step,  the  dark  Fate  that  has 
set  to  me  my  weird.  I  may  suffer  if  I  must,  but  I 
will  not  bless.  But  (listen,  oh  my  soul!)  of  God — 
not  that  God,  but  this — "the  Father  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ"  with  all  the  depth  of  meaning  in  that 
phrase,  the  Father  of  mercies,  the  God  of  all  com- 
fort,— nay,  the  God  who  hath  comforted  me  in  all 
affliction    (oh,   my   soul,    remember   the    times    and 


SOURCE    AND    ISSUE    OF    COMFORT     59 

the  places),  can  I  not  say,  "Blessed"  ?  Though  Thou 
slay  me,  yet  will  I  bless  Thee. 

Some  of  your  lives  have  been  hard  and  full  of 
striving  and  sorrow ;  even  the  smiling  faces  are  some- 
times veils  over  many  an  ache  and  void  of  heart. 
How  hard  your  lives  are  only  your  own  hearts  fully 
know.  But  if  to-day  you  are  able  to  say,  with  sad 
reservation  because  you  are  weak,  with  doubtful 
faltering  lip  because  so  much  is  dark,  but  yet  do  say, 
"blessed  be  God  who  hath  comforted  me,"  it  is  good 
to  be  able  to  say  that.  There  we  are  at  the  source 
of  eternal  comfort  and  good  hope,  for  we  are  at  the 
source  of  grace.  It  is  the  comfort  of  a  love  that 
triumphs  over  sorrow,  and  the  hope  that  outlives 
death. 

(3)  But  faith  has  always  a  relation  to  the  world 
as  well  as  a  relation  to  God  and  self.  God's  dealing 
with  a  particular  man  is  not  an  end  in  itself,  but 
designed  for  a  larger  end  for  which  the  particular 
man  is  used.  St.  Paul  saw  this  fully  and,  there- 
fore, his  life  has  been  the  wonder  of  Christian 
history.  The  moral  and  spiritual  ends  involved  in 
salvation  can  only  be  secured  by  the  working  of  God's 
love  through  loving  men.  St.  Paul  blessed  God  for 
the  personal  comfort  he  had  received  in  his  affliction, 
but  he  saw  beyond  that  to  the  great  wide  purpose 


60     SOURCE    AND    ISSUE    OF    COMFORT 

in  the  heart  of  God.  He  saw  himself  to  be  not 
an  end  but  an  instrument.  He  blessed  God  not  so 
much  for  the  personal  comfort  as  because  through 
the  personal  comfort  he  was  enabled  to  continue  the 
work  to  which  he  had  given  his  life.  Most  of  us 
never  see  much  beyond  ourselves.  We  hedge  our- 
selves in  within  our  own  borders.  We  desire  the 
sunshine  for  ourselves,  and  it  may  be  bless  God  for 
every  ray  of  it.  But  we  do  not  always  understand 
the  object  of  God's  love  and  comfort,  that  for  which 
He  gives  us  it.  We  do  not  always  see  that  we  are 
blessed  in  order  that  we  may  bless,  comforted  that 
we  may  comfort,  and  get  that  we  may  give.  Some- 
times we  would  open  ourselves  up  on  the  side  of  God 
to  receive,  and  shut  ourselves  up  on  the  side  of  men 
to  give.  We  are  even  jealous  of  the  love  of  God — 
what  a  strange  distortion  all  exclusiveness  here 
means !  In  the  effort  to  keep  all  to  self  we  lose  much 
and  sometimes  lose  all.  We  try  to  imprison  a  sun- 
beam, but  when  we  shut  the  door  and  windows  of 
our  hearts  on  it  we  find  it  has  evaded  us  and  escaped. 
Can  we  wonder  that  our  hearts  are  so  often  barren 
of  comfort  ?  How  clearly  St.  Paul  learned  the  lesson 
of  the  life  of  Christ  when  he  summed  up  the  philoso- 
phy of  God's  providence  thus,  "Blessed  be  God  who 
hath  comforted  us  in  all  our  affliction  that  we  may 


SOURCE    AND    ISSUE    OF    COMFORT     61 

be  able  to  comfort  them  that  are  in  any  affliction  by 
the  comfort  wherewith  we  ourselves  are  comforted  of 
God." 

The  school  of  affliction  is  a  school  of  comfort,  and 
the  school  of  comfort  is  a  school  of  sympathy.  A 
man  will  sometimes  learn  in  some  vague  way  why  he 
has  tasted  discipline,  and  yet  may  not  have  gone 
further  to  learn  why  he  has  tasted  consolation.  If 
we  can  say,  and  all  of  us  in  some  form  can  say, 
"Blessed  be  God  who  hath  comforted  us,"  can  we 
continue,  "that  we  may  be  able  to  comfort  others"  ? 
There  is  no  election  which  picks  out  candidates  for 
a  sluggard's  paradise.  God's  election  is  not  merely 
to  privilege  but  also  to  service;  and  every  right  we 
possess  is  also  a  duty.  What  have  you  of  eternal  com- 
fort and  good  hope  that  is  not  through  grace  ?  What 
have  you  that  you  have  not  received  ?  And  why  did 
you  receive  it  ?  We  speak  glibly  of  the  value  of 
experience,  that  tribulation  should  beget  patience  and 
the  virtues  of  the  spirit.  But  tribulation  often  hard- 
ens us,  and  even  comfort  sometimes  hardens  us  into 
selfishness.  The  very  Christian  graces  are  often  col- 
oured and  spoiled  .by  some  selfishness.  Our  patience 
is  but  sullen  waiting;  our  faith  is  the  despair  of 
light ;  our  love  is  the  burnt-out  passion  of  our  heart ; 
our  service  the  dregs  of  our  life.     Let  us  get  rid  of 


62     SOURCE    AND    ISSUE    OF    COMFORT 

the  taint  of  self,  and  our  work  will  be  the  nobler  and 
our  worship  the  purer.  Then  the  true  joy  of  service 
will  be  ours,  and  the  meaning  of  Christ's  sacrifice  will 
be  brought  home  to  us  in  any  little  sacrifice  we  are 
privileged  to  make  for  others  and  for  Him.  The 
world  waits  for  service :  Christ  calls  to  service.  Often 
we  are  blind  to  God's  ministry  of  comfort  to  us, 
but  oftener  still  we  are  blind  to  our  ministry  of  com- 
fort from  Him  to  others.  The  opportunities  lie  scat- 
tered at  the  feet  of  men  like  flowers.  The  occasions 
are  numberless  to  the  chastened  and  comforted  heart 
that  looks  at  life  out  of  gentle  eyes  and  touches  life 
with  soft  hand. 

This  is  the  programme  of  Christianity.  This  is 
faith  with  its  threefold  reach  from  God  through  the 
individual  to  the  world.  Have  you  been  doing  in- 
justice to  this  faith  in  your  thoughts?  Have  you 
in  ignorance  slighted  it  as  a  small  thing,  whereas  it 
covers  all  life  aild  puts  in  motion  eternal  powers? 
Will  you  do  justice  to  it  now,  the  only  possible  justice, 
of  giving  up  your  selfish  isolation,  blessing  God  for 
His  gifts  of  grace,  opening  your  heart  to  His  love, 
and  serving  your  generation,  walking  in  the  comfort 
of  the  Holy  Ghost?  Said  Thomas  a  Kempis:  "God 
has  so  ordained  that  we  may  learn  to  bear  one  an- 
other's burdens:  for  there  is  no  man  without  his 


SOURCE    AND    ISSUE    OF    COMFORT     63 

burden^  no  man  sufficient  for  himself;  we  must  sup- 
port, comfort,  and  help  one  another."  The  school  of 
affliction  has  failed  for  us  if  it  has  not  become  a 
school  of  comfort;  and  the  school  of  comfort  has 
failed  for  us  if  it  has  not  become  a  school  of 
sympathy. 

As  we  partake  of  the  comfort  of  faith  typified  to 
us  at  the  table  of  communion,  we  must  let  it  speak 
its  full  message  to  heart  and  conscience.  It  has  a 
personal  message  of  sweet  comfort  from  our  fellow- 
ship with  the  Father  of  mercies  revealed  to  us  by 
Jesus.  We  find  strength  and  consolation  for  all  the 
needs  of  life,  and  even  in  affliction  our  faith  speaks 
of  comfort  and  hushes  us  into  peace.  But  it  has  also 
a  social  message,  summoning  us  to  duty,  requiring 
us  to  give  of  the  love  we  have  received.  Personal 
faith  must  be  transmuted  into  social  service.  Com- 
munion must  issue  in  life,  the  larger  life  of  Christian 
love.  If  we  have  been  at  the  source  of  true  comfort, 
it  is  that  we  may  be  able  to  comfort  others  through 
the  comfort  wherewith  we  ourselves  are  comforted 
of  God. 


BY  WAY  OF  REMEMBRANCE 

I  stir  up  your  pure  minds  by  way  of  remembrance. — 2  Peter  iii.  1. 

At  first  it  looks  merely  like  a  graceful  courtesy  for 
the  writer  to  declare  that  he  is  giving  them  not  so 
much  new  truths  as  only  reminding  them  of  what 
they  already  know;  just  as  previously  in  this  same 
letter  he  says,  "I  will  not  be  negligent  to  put  you 
always  in  remembrance  of  these  things,  though  ye 
know  them."  Again  and  again  in  St.  Paul's  Epistles 
also  we  find  marks  of  the  same  gracious  courtesy,  as 
if  his  readers  knew  the  things  he  desired  to  teach 
them  and  possessed  the  virtues  he  longed  them  to  have. 
In  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans  we  are  touched  with 
this  sweet  humility  and  courtesy  in  the  implication 
that  all  he  hoped  to  do  for  them  was  to  remind  them 
of  something  they  knew  as  well  as  he.  "I  myself 
also  am  persuaded  of  you,  my  brethren,  that  ye  are 
full  of  goodness,  filled  with  all  knowledge,  able  also 
to  admonish  one  another.  ISTevertheless,  brethren,  I 
have  written  the  more  boldly  unto  you  in  some  sort, 

64 


BY    WAY    OF    REMEMBRANCE    65 

as  putting  you  in  mind,  because  of  the  grace  that  is 
given  to  me  of  God." 

This  courtesy  of  the  Apostle,  however,  in  assum- 
ing previous  knowledge  is  not  mere  meaningless  flat- 
tery. That  attitude,  for  one  thing,  is  the  true  teach- 
er's instinct.  To  assume  knowledge  is  often  the  way 
to  bring  out  into  consciousness  what  is  either  latent 
or  is  in  danger  of  being  forgotten.  It  is  more  than  a 
mere  trick  to  gain  the  confidence  of  an  audience  by 
giving  them  a  good  opinion  of  themselves.  It  was 
really  true  that  their  readers  knew  the  facts  and  con- 
clusions they  sought  to  bring  before  their  notice; 
they  had  been  taught  in  the  faith ;  they  were  aware 
of  the  story  of  God's  grace  in  Jesus  Christ,  and  also  of 
the  religious  import  of  that  story.  And  so,  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  what  they  did  need  was  to  be  reminded 
of  it,  to  have  it  impressed  on  conscience  and  heart.  It 
bears  repetition.  All  subsequent  progress  in  the 
Christian  life  is  attained  by  bringing  out  into  thought 
and  practice  what  they  already  know  and  believe. 
What  can  one  do  to  a  Christian  congregation  but  stir 
up  their  pure  minds  by  way  of  remembrance  ?  Thus, 
these  words  are  more  than  idle  courtesy ;  they  are  the 
statement  of  a  fact  that,  in  moral  living,  men  need 
to  be  reminded  of  what  they  know,  and  that  only 
by  repetition  are  faith  and  knowledge  deepened. 


66    BY   WAY    OF    REMEMBRANCE 

But  there  is  more  in  it  than  this  evident  truth. 
The  words  of  our  text  suggest  an  even  deeper  thought 
of  religion  and  life.  We  are  led  to  look  for  this 
deeper  idea  when  we  think  that  all  the  Apostles 
followed  this  method.  To  take  another  instance, 
this  time  from  St.  John:  "I  have  not  written  unto 
you  because  ye  know  not  the  truth,  but  because  ye 
know  it."  In  fact,  the  great  appeal  of  religion  seems 
to  be  an  appeal  to  memory.  In  the  promise  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  to  His  disciples  our  Lord  states  that  the 
work  of  the  Spirit  to  them  would  be  "to  bring  all 
things  to  your  remembrance,  whatsoever  I  have  said 
unto  you." 

By  way  of  remembrance  is  the  method  of  religion. 
It  is  so  in  the  life  of  the  Church  at  large.  A  revival 
of  religion  comes  when  the  Church  is  recalled  to  the 
facts  and  forces  that  underlie  her  very  existence.  A 
revival  comes  not  by  novel  doctrines  of  a  novel  creed, 
but  by  a  firmer  grasp  of  the  things  that  cannot  be 
shaken,  a  recovery  of  faith  in  God  and  Jesus  Christ 
and  the  human  soul  and  eternal  life.  It  is  when  the 
Church  is  stirred  by  way  of  remembrance  that  new 
life  seems  poured  through  her  veins.  Every  religious 
advance  is  got  by  a  return,  as  the  advancing  tide  falls 
back  on  the  basic  bosom  of  the  sea  to  prepare  itself 
for  an  increased  sweep  up  the  shore.     All  through 


BY    WAY    OF    REMEMBRANCE     67 

the  history  of  the  Church  we  see  this,  ever  going  back 
to  the  fountain-head,  returning  to  Christ  to  gain 
fresh  vigour  and  new  insight.  It  is  got  not  by  new  - 
discoveries,  but  by  a  completer  grasp  of  what  it  al- 
ready has,  digging  deeper  to  find  the  treasures  of 
wisdom  and  knowledge  hid  in  Christ.  The  Church 
falls  back,  as  it  were,  to  review  her  possessions,  to 
remind  herself  of  them.  Every  revival  of  religion 
is  to  save  the  Church  from  forgetfulness — forgetful- 
ness  of  the  essential  things.  The  progress  of  reli- 
gious truth  is  by  way  of  remembrance  with  a  new  light 
in  it,  not  by  discovery  of  the  new,  but  by  recovery 
of  the  old,  seeing  more  clearly  into  what  it  con- 
tains, dispensing  with  all  that  is  temporary  and  acci- 
dental, and  laying  hold  of  what  is  of  the  essence  of 
truth. 

In  the  individual  life  also  the  method  of  religion 
is  by  way  of  remembrance.  It  is  a  going  back 
to  something  we  possessed  before,  listening  to  an  old 
voice,  submitting  to  an  old  inspiration,  accepting 
an  old  instinct.  It  is  a  reawakening  of  our  real 
nature.  The  religious  appeal  is  ever  to  something 
innate,  to  spiritual  capacity  which  we  have  by  right 
of  birth,  though  that  capacity  be  smothered  by  the 
mass  of  secular  concerns  that  fill  so  much  of  our  life. 
It  is  really,  we  feel,  a  coming  to  ourselves,  having  our 


68    BY    WAY    OF    REMEMBRANCE 

minds  stirred  by  way  of  remembrance,  as  the  Prodi- 
gal Son  at  last  in  the  far  country  came  to  himself  and 
remembered  his  father's  house.  Religion  is  simple, 
elementary,  going  back  to  the  primordial  type  of  life. 
When  we  bend  to  God,  it  awakens  in  us  echoes  of 
long-remembered  and  long-forgotten  strains ;  it  is  like 
a  sweet  and  solemn  and  holy  memory.  When  we 
waken  to  religion  we  are  struck  with  our  folly  that 
we  did  not  see  it  before,  since  it  lay  to  our  hand  all 
the  time,  and  we  just  needed  to  be  recalled  to  it  by 
way  of  remembrance.  It  is  nothing  foreign  to  our 
nature,  but  is  our  natural  life,  as  God  is  our  natural 
home.  Religion  in  its  essence  is  to  become  again  a 
little  child,  to  go  back  to  what  we  were — what  indeed 
we  really  are  when  all  the  wrappings  of  worldliness 
are  stripped  off  us.  We  see  the  Kingdom  of  God 
when  we  come  thus  with  the  child's  eyes  and  the 
child's  heart.  When  we  are  so  converted,  it  is  not  like 
being  transported  into  a  strange  and  foreign  land,  it 
is  like  being  restored  to  our  o^vn  native  land  after  a 
long  and  dark  exile.  We  are  home  at  last  from  a 
far  country,  where  we  should  never  have  been  but 
for  our  o^vn  folly  and  sin.  We  are  reinstated  in  our 
own  rightful  place. 

It  is  by  way  of  remembrance  that  every  religious 
message  comes  to  us,  touching  a  string  of  early  mem- 


BY    WAY    OF    REMEMBRANCE    69 

ory.  This  is  the  deep  thought  in  the  Platonic  fancy 
of  which  Wordsworth  made  such  beautiful  use  in  his 
"Ode  on  Immortality" :  that  our  birth  is  but  a  sleep 
and  a  forgetting;  that  the  dream-like  vividness  and 
splendour  of  sight  in  childhood  speak  of  a  prior  state 
of  existence,  and  the  soul  comes  from  God  with  vague 
memories  of  another  life;  and  that  through  time 
shades  of  the  prison-house  begin  to  close  upon  us,  and 
so  the  way  to  true  joy  is  by  way  of  remembrance,  by 

Those  first  affections, 

Those  shadowy  recollections, 

Which,  be  they  what  they  may, 

Are  yet  the  fountain  light  of  all  our  day, 

Are  yet  a  master  light  of  all  our  seeing. 

Religious  teaching  is  thus  distinguished  from  all 
other  teaching.  It  uses  some  of  the  same  methods, 
but  it  points  to  a  different  end.  It  is  not  merely  in- 
formation, the  acquisition  of  new  facts,  however  true. 
It  cannot  be  satisfied  until  it  touches  that  chord  of  the 
spiritual  nature  which  proclaims  man  akin  to  God. 
That  is  reached  when  we  recover  faith  and  attain 
the  simple,  trusting,  artless  attitude  of  a  child.  Other 
education  can  go  on  by  set  rule,  by  prescribed  task, 
from  text-book  to  text-book ;  but  this  education  must 
also  go  back  and  within  till  it  regains  the  sense  of 
God's  presence.    The  method  of  preaching,  therefore, 


70    BY    WAY    OF    REMEMBRANCE 

is  not  merely  stating  truths  which  men  may  accept, 
but  is  also  to  stir  up  pure  minds  by  way  of  remem- 
brance. Religion  is  concerned  not  only  about  views 
and  systems  of  truth,  important  though  these  be,  but 
chiefly  about  bringing  men  to  self-consciousness  and 
consciousness  of  God;  bidding  them  reflect,  turn  in 
upon  themselves.  This  distinction  between  religious 
teaching  and  all  other  teaching  is  a  fundamental  one. 
When  all  has  been  done  in  the  most  perfect  system  of 
religious  education,  nothing  has  been  achieved  unless 
the  heart  is  touched  and  the  soul  has  been  held  in 
recollection.  It  is  not  just  true  information  about 
God  and  about  human  duty  and  the  like,  part  and 
parcel  though  this  is  of  any  religious  training  worth 
the  name;  but  it  needs  to  be  something  more  than 
all  this.  It  must  touch  a  personal  chord  and  move 
the  heart  till  the  whole  man  gets  into  a  right  rela- 
tion to  God.  Religion  works  therefore  by  inspiration 
rather  than  by  information.  The  mind  must  be 
stirred ;  the  soul  must  be  stirred  to  holy  recollection. 
The  heart  must  be  wakened  to  its  birthright,  to  the 
great  vocation  among  the  sons  of  God. 

Anything  may  do  this;  anything  may  open  the 
gate  of  memory.  God  is  not  far  from  any  of  us. 
We  dwell  on  the  borderland  of  the  unseen,  and 
though  the  shades  of  the  prison-house  have  gathered 


BY    WAY    OF    REMEMBRANCE    71 

round  us,  we  may  be  recalled  by  any  of  the  surprises 
of  life.  Any  event — of  sorrow  or  joy,  of  loss  or  gain 
— may  suddenly  remind  us  of  God,  and  tlius  be  an 
agent  of  religious  education.  Should  we  be  so  dull 
of  heart  and  so  slow  to  believe,  when  everything  can 
speak  to  us  of  the  spiritual  world  ?  What  oppor- 
tunities we  have !  How  mind  and  heart  are  stirred 
by  way  of  remembrance !  Are  we  not  pulled  up 
every  now  and  then  by  some  hint  or  some  lesson 
reminding  us  of  the  inward  and  higher  life  which 
we  acknowledge  to  be  our  true  life,  although  the 
things  of  sense  keep  us  blind  to  its  claim  over  us? 
But  the  way  of  remembrance  is  never  quite  closed 
up.  At  any  point  we  can  be  surprised  by  our  own 
soul;  at  any  point  we  can  be  surprised  by  God. 
Though  we  take  the  wings  of  the  morning  and  dwell 
in  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  sea,  though  we  ascend  up 
into  heaven  or  make  our  bed  in  hell,  we  cannot  escape 
from  the  witness  to  the  Divine  which  our  own  nature 
declares.  It  is  not  easy  to  get  away  from  God,  so 
long  as  the  mind  may  be  stirred  by  way  of  remem- 
brance. 

How  true  it  is  that  the  method  of  religion  is  by 
way  of  remembrance  we  see  at  the  very  first  step 
of  all  religion.  At  the  threshold  stands  repentance, 
and  repentance  is  awakened  memory.    It  may  be  the 


72    BY    WAY    OF    REMEMBRANCE 

good  of  the  past  or  tlie  evil  of  the  past  that  stirs 
the  heart.  In  any  case  it  is  an  appeal  to  memory. 
How  a  revived  memory  can  burn  into  the  conscience, 
and  melt  the  heart,  when  nothing  else  can !  It  may 
be  the  recollection  of  an  early  paradise,  an  innocent 
youth,  a  happy  home,  the  sweet  affections  of  other 
days,  the  angel  faces  that  smile  on  us  still.  The  ache 
of  desire  for  some  buried  past  can  turn  all  the 
present  to  ashes.  That  appeal  of  memory  can  move 
a  man  when  all  other  motives  have  lost  their  grip, 
and  bring  him  back  to  God  as  the  prodigal  turned  at 
the  soft  thought  of  his  father's  house.  Or  it  may 
be  that  repentance  is  induced  by  a  sin  that  will  not 
be  forgotten  or  a  shame  that  will  not  be  buried.  The 
very  despair  of  memory  may  do  the  work,  as  it  probes 
the  life  and  lays  bare  the  secret  things.  The  way  of 
remembrance  is  the  ethical  method  of  all  ages. 

What  can  assuage  the  unforgotten  pain, 
And  teach  the  unforgetful  to  forget? 

It  Is  part  of  the  burden  and  the  glory  of  moral  exist- 
ence that  we  do  not  forget.  It  is  because  we  have  a 
life  all  our  own,  with  a  past  all  our  own;  it  is  be- 
cause we  are  spiritual  entities,  with  unbroken  con- 
tinuity of  personal  life,  that  religion  can  get  at  us 
thus  by  way  of  remembrance.    No  man  is  safe  from 


BY    WAY    OF    REMEMBRANCE    73 

his  past,  be  it  of  good  or  evil.  So,  repentance  comes 
often  as  a  form  of  recollection.  When  we  consider 
and  remember  and  come  to  ourselves,  when  memory 
revives,  conscience  awakes.  The  buried  past  reap- 
pears as  on  some  awful  Resurrection  Day. 

We  are  all  open  to  this  appeal,  all  open  to  have 
our  minds  stirred  by  way  of  remembrance ;  and  it  is 
not  only  sad  memory,  not  only  recollection  that  car- 
ries with  it  a  sense  of  shame.  We  bring  to  mind  the 
ever-old,  ever-new  fact  of  God's  eternal  love ;  we  see 
gracious  providence,  goodness  and  mercy  that  have 
followed  us  all  our  days.  Our  hearts  are  stirred  into 
gratitude  as  well  as  into  contrition  by  the  backward 
look;  and  surely  also  our  hearts  are  stirred  into 
renewed  aspiration  and  resolution  to  let  the  con- 
soling, inspiring  power  of  our  faith  move  us  to  larger 
service  and  more  loyal  devotion.  By  way  of  remem- 
brance we  think  of  the  love  with  which  the  Saviour 
loved  us  and  gave  Himself  for  us,  and  we  are  incited 
to  walk  worthy  of  our  great  vocation  as  the  children 
of  God. 

At  the  Table  of  Remembrance  we  are  brought  close 
to  the  heart  of  our  faith.  We  do  this  in  remembrance 
of  Jesus,  opening  ourselves  up  to  the  old  appeal 
and  humbly  acknowledging  ourselves  His  dis- 
ciples.    We  recall  the  gracious  story  and  bring  to 


74    BY    WAY    OF    REMEMBRANCE 

recollection  the  love  unto  death.  Once  more  our 
hearts  burn  within  us  as  He  speaks  to  us  by  the  way. 
Once  more  He  makes  Himself  known  to  us  by  the 
breaking  of  bread.  Once  more  we  plight  our  troth 
to  Him,  whose  we  are  and  whom  we  serve.  It  is  the 
Table  of  Remembrance,  indeed ;  for  it  stirs  uj)  pure 
minds  by  way  of  remembrance. 


THE  SACRAMENTAL  COMMITTAL 

I  know  whom  I  have  believed,  and  am  persuaded  that  Re  is  able  to 
keep  that  which  I  have  committed  unto  Him  against  that  day. — 
2  Timothy  i.  13. 

Personal  trust  is  at  the  basis  of  the  life  of  faith. 
Till  a  confession  takes  on  a  personal  note  it  is  only 
on  the  outside  of  life,  so  to  speak.  It  is  not  vital,  a 
living  root  that  feeds  the  whole  tree.  Creed  in  the 
form  of  opinions  or  even  formal  convictions,  creed 
that  is  put  on  and  worn  like  a  dress,  may  cover  the 
nakedness  of  life,  hut  it  is  only  a  fashion  of  clothes, 
however  correct  the  fashion  may  be.  It  will  not  stand 
the  wear  and  tear  of  life's  warfare.  A  faith  that  is 
external  to  begin  with  may  have  many  advantages; 
it  may  lead  a  man  to  much  good  and  save  him  from 
much  evil,  but  it  is  only  useful  under  certain  condi- 
tions. When  the  conditions  change,  or  when  the 
man  is  placed  under  new  circumstances,  he  has  no 
sure  standard.  For  example,  a  man  may  have  a  high 
standard  of  honour  about  certain  things  imposed  on 
him  by  the  society  in  which  he  lives.     It  may  have 

75 


76     THE    SACRAMENTAL    COMMITTAL 

been  so  accepted  by  him  and  taken  into  the  fabric  of 
his  mind  that  it  is  ahnost  a  second  nature,  and  on  these 
points  he  is  safe  and  knows  no  doubt.  But  being 
only  an  external  code,  he  is  completely  at  sea  when 
he  is  confronted  by  a  new  set  of  conditions.  He 
has  no  inward  guide,  no  inward  assurance,  no  settled 
general  principles  by  which  to  regulate  .conduct. 
That  is  the  difference  between  a  vital  creed  and  a 
conventional  one.  A  conventional  creed  may  do 
very  well  so  far  as  it  goes,  but  it  cannot  go  very  far 
at  the  best.  It  has  a  very  limited  range,  and  beyond 
that  is  a  foreign  country.  It.can  have  no  assurance 
of  tread  in  the  great  maze  of  life. 

We  note  also  about  a  conventional  creed  that 
there  is  no  passionate  note  of  conviction.  There  is 
no  thrill  in  its  assertions,  no  deep  that  speaks  to 
deep,  no  height  that  answers  height.  It  does  not 
convince,  because  it  is  not  convinced.  This  does  not 
mean  that  it  necessarily  always  speaks  with  a  false 
tone.  It  may  be  quite  real,  but  its  reality  does  not  go 
down  to  the  foundation  of  life.  It  is  not  part  of  the 
man's  very  nature,  something  of  which  he  is  as  sure 
as  he  is  of  himself.  The  faith  that  is  personal  and 
intimate,  born  of  the  soul,  a  fact  and  a  force  of  the 
inner  life,  cannot  be  dissevered  from  the  being  and 
nature  of  the  man.     It  grows  with  his  growth,  and 


THE    SACRAMENTAL    COMMITTAL     77 

lives  with  his  life,  and  is  "the  master-light  of  all 
his  seeing."  When  it  speaks  it  speaks  of  knowledge 
and  persuasion ;  it  utters  the  reality  of  the  soul ;  it 
issues  from  the  fountain  of  life.  It  adjusts  itself  to 
every  change  of  environment  and  is  a  principle  of 
choice  and  decision  in  every  crisis.  It  is  a  centre 
round  which  the  whole  life  moves,  a  centre  of  rest 
and  a  centre  of  impulse.  It  speaks  with  the  calm 
conviction  of  assurance,  "I  know  whom  I  have  be- 
lieved, and  am  persuaded  that  He  is  able  to  keep 
that  which  I  have  committed  unto  Him  against  that 
day." 

Such  a  faith  means  courage.  It  lives  in  the  dark 
day,  and  does  not  lose  grip  though  the  sun  is  not 
shining.  It  does  not  take  fright  at  the  thought  of 
danger;  for  it  is  not  dependent  on  outside  circum- 
stances. It  is  willing  to  suffer,  and  can  endure 
through  the  storm.  A  fair-weather  faith  languishes 
at  a  frown.  It  withers  because  it  has  no  root.  It 
cannot  stay  the  soul  in  the  hour  of  need,  and  support 
it  amid  trial.  Itjbreaks  down  under  the  weight.  A 
conventional  creed  without  the  personal  relation  has 
no  inner  sanctuary,  within  which  it  can  retire  in  the 
evil  day.  The  house  of  life  is  not  built  on  the  rock, 
and  when  the  rain  descends  and  the  floods  come 
and  beat  upon  it  little  wonder  if  it  falls.     But  a 


78     THE    SACRAMENTAL    COMMITTAL 

personal  faith,  that  is  knit  into  the  being  till  it  is  as 
flesh  of  the  flesh  and  bone  of  the  bone,  can  endure 
and  suffer  and  survive ;  for  it  gets  new  strength  for 
every  strain  and  is  fed  from  a  perennial  source.  It 
was  this  that  made  the  Apostle  say,  "For  the  which 
cause  I  suffer  also  these  things;  yet  I  am  not 
ashamed;  for  I  know."  Even  though  he  tastes  sor- 
row and  suffering  and  earthly  shame,  his  real  mood 
is  not  shame  but  exultation.  There  is  strength  be- 
yond his  strength,  a  deep  basal  trust  to  calm  the  quak- 
ing flesh,  a  refuge  ready  for  the  hour  of  greatest" 
need.  With  such  a  present  faith  the  only  thing  he 
could  be  afraid  of  would  be  fear,  and  the  only  thing 
he  could  be  ashamed  of  would  be  shame.  "I  suffer, 
yet  I  am  not  ashamed,  for  I  know  whom  I  have  be- 
lieved and  am  persuaded  that  He  is  able  to  keep 
that  which  I  have  committed  unto  Him  against  that 
day." 

What  has  he  committed  to  God  ?  The  Greek  word 
means,  my  deposit — "I  am  persuaded  that  He  is  able 
to  guard  my  deposit."  The  figure  is,  of  course,  obvi- 
ous— a  deposit  put  into  the  hands  of  a  depository 
with  what  appears  to  be  sufficient  security,  a  trust 
placed  with  an  absolutely  trustworthy  trustee.  What 
has  been  committed  which  he  is  sure  will  be  carefully 
and  safely  kept?     Some  give  elaborate  reasons  why 


THE    SACRAMENTAL    COMMITTAL     79 

it  should  be  interpreted  to  mean  his  soul,  or  faith  in 
immortality,  or  salvation,  or  the  care  of  the  Churches, 
or  his  converts  who  were  a  burden  of  love  on  his  heart, 
and  such  like  particular  precious  things  for  which 
Paul  trusts  God.  But  it  does  not  mean  any  of  these 
things,  though  it  includes  them  all.  The  phrase  is 
vague,  and  meant  to  be  vague,  "my  deposit."  It 
means  that  Paul  had  committed  to  Him  everything, 
and  was  persuaded  that  He  was  able  to  keep  it  all. 
The  emphasis  is  not  on  what  the  deposit  was,  but  on 
the  fact  that  the  deposit  is  safe.  If  you  want  one 
word  for  the  deposit,  the  one  word  is  himself. 
The  deposit  includes  all  that  Paul  had  trusted  God 
for.  He  trusts  God  for  his  soul,  but  no  more  than  he 
trusts  Him  for  his  body.  He  trusts  God  for  salva- 
tion hereafter,  but  no  more  than  he  trusts  Him  for 
his  life  here.  He  trusts  Him  for  the  converts  and 
Churches,  as  he  trusts  Him  for  all  personal  cares. 
The  word  has  no  definite  limits,  and  was  not  meant 
to  have  limits,  "My  deposit,"  that  which  I  have  com- 
mitted unto  Him.  The  force  of  the  sentence  is  in  the 
fact  that  the  deposit  is  safe  where  it  is.  It  is  in  the 
right  hands,  and  he  need  neither  be  afraid  nor 
ashamed.  It  is  the  Guarantor  he  is  thinking  of,  not 
the  special  things  that  have  been  guaranteed;  the 
Trustee,  not  the  different  items  of  the  trust. 


80     THE    SACRAMENTAL    COMMITTAL 

What  is  the  security?  The  security  is  God  Him- 
self. His  character  is  the  guarantee,  and  Paul's 
knowledge  of  Him  gives  the  confidence.  In  the  ulti- 
mate issues  even  in  our  dealings  with  one  another 
we  fall  back  on  the  same  principle  of  personal  guar- 
antee. We  trust  each  other  little  or  much,  but 
without. .trust  there  could  be  no  relations,  no  social 
structure,  no  business  even.  We  are  accustomed  to 
put  some  measure  of  trust  on  character.  A  rogue 
will  be  a  rogue  and  will  take  people  in,  no  matter 
how  carefully  the  regulations  of  business  are  planned ; 
but  if  there  were  nothing  but  roguery  the  social  con- 
tract would  be  dissolved.  Thus  from  our  common 
experience  we  get  light  on  the  thought  which  lay 
back  of  the  Apostle's  mind  as  he  used  this  figure 
of  God.  We  know  something  of  what  it  is  to  trust 
a  personal  guarantee,  and  surely  we  know  some  that 
are  to  us  stronger  than  any  material  security  or  legal 
bond.  There  are  men  to  whom  you  would  feel  safe 
to  commit  anything.  In  spite  of  a  cynical  distrust 
of  human  nature  so  widely  preached,  there  are  cases 
where  you  feel  your  greatest  security  is  the  man 
himself,  his  character,  his  probity,  his  good  faith. 
The  very  heart  of  the  sublime  faith  expressed  in  this 
verse  is  the  personal  guarantee.  Paul  has  handed 
over  his  deposit,  committed  his  all  to  God,  and  the 


THE    SACRAMENTAL    COMMITTAL     81 

security  is  God  Himself.  This  is  the  source  of 
the  confidence  and  peace  and  strength.  This  is  why 
he  can  suffer  if  need  be.  This  is  why  he  is  not 
ashamed.  He  has  gut  his  treasure  in  a  bank  that 
cannot  fail.  He  has  leant  his  weight  on  a  support 
that  cannot  bend  or  break.  His  confidence  has  a 
personal  source  in  his  experience  of  God's  love.  He 
is  not  afraid  for  his  deposit.  "I  know  Him  whom 
I  have  trusted,  and  am  persuaded  that  He  is  able  to 
keep  that  which  I  have  committed  unto  Him  against 
that  day." 

One  aspect  of  the  Christian  life  is  a  consideration 
of  what  is  committed  to  us,  our  duty  regarding  it, 
our  responsibility  to  walk  worthy  of  our  great  voca- 
tf6n7  the  sense  of  trusteeship  that  should  make  life 
sacred  and  solemn,  remembering  ever  the  day  when 
we  shall  give  in  an  account  of  our  stewardship.  But 
before  that  is  a  primary  thought  of  what  we  have 
committed  to  God  in  simple  faith  that  He  is  able 
to  keep  it  against  that  day.  This  thought  is  not 
only  the  beginning  of  religion,  but  is  also  the  middle 
and  the  end.  It  is  first  and  last  and  all  through. 
It  is  thefaith  that  is  to  inspire  the  duty.  This  is 
the  aspect  that  most  naturally  should  be  in  our 
minds  to-day  as  we  make  the  sacramental  committal. 
By  sign  and  symbol  we  commit  ourselves  to  the  great 


82     THE    SACRAMENTAL    COMMITTAL 

love  of  God.  We  believe  it;  we  accept  it;  we  rest 
on  it;  we  feed  on  it.  Humbly  and  confidently  we 
give  our  deposit  of  faith,  believing,  persuaded  that 
He  is  able  to  keep  what  we  have  committed  unto 
Him. 

To  make  that  sacramental  committal  is  to  dower 
our  hearts  with  peace  and  courage.  Though  there 
be  trials  behind  us  and  troubles  before,  yet  from  this 
vantage-point  of  light  and  love  we  see  enough  to  know 
that  we  need  neither  be  afraid  nor  ashamed.  There 
is  peace  even  in  the  thought  of  having  committed 
yourself,  as  moral  strength  also  comes  from  the  mere 
fact  of  decision.  The  gain  will  be  a  permanent  and 
continual  one  if  we  do  not  forget  the  personal  source 
of  the  confidence  and  peace  and  strength  in  Christ. 
"I  know  Him  whom  I  have  believed."  Let  us  com- 
mit ourselves  freely  to  His  love.  Let  us  make  a 
personal  transaction  of  it.  Let  us  remind  ourselves 
what  causes  we  have  for  making  the  committal,  and 
what  valid  reason  we  have  to  be  sure  of  Him  who 
loved  us  and  gave  Himself  for  us.  These  sacra- 
mental tokens  are  more  than  simple  signs  of  great 
spiritual  realities :  they  do  more  than  represent  truth. 
They  are,  indeed,  signs  that  stand  to  us  for  the 
deepest  truths  of  the  faith;  they  tell  over  again  to 
Tis  in  dumb  speech  the  wondrous  story  of  the  love 


THE    SACRAMENTAL    COMMITTAL     83 

of  God;  but  they  are  more.  In  the  word  of  the 
Westminster  Shorter  Catechism,  they  are  seals  as 
well  as  signs.  A  seal  meant  an  extra  and  special 
confirmation  to  a  contract.  It  gave  a  document  final- 
ity as  something  that  could  not  be  departed  from. 
So  this  sealing  ordinance  confirms  to  us  the  Father's 
promise  and  the  Saviour's  love.  Take  the  bread  and 
the  wine  not  merely  as  symbols  of  the  divine  love,  but 
also  as  sealing  that  love  with  an  irrefragable  bond. 
Can  we  trust  Christ  1  Can  we  commit  ourselves  to 
Him  ?  Surely  we  cannot  come  so  near  to  His  heart 
without  feeling  sure  of  Him.  We  cannot  look  upon 
the  signs  and  seals  without  being  convinced  of  His 
deathless  love.  We  know  whom  we  have  believed; 
and  we  make  the  sacramental  committal. 

What  have  we  committed  unto  Him  against  that 
day  ?  Ah,  if  there  is  anything  lacking  to  our  peace, 
it  is  because  there  has  been  something  lacking  in 
oiir  committal.  If  we  have  any  unrest  of  soul,  it  is 
because  we  have  kept  back  something.  If  our  joy 
to-day  is  not  full,  it  is  because  we  have  not  committed 
everything  unto  Him  against  that  day.  Is  there  any- 
thing in  your  life,  any  burden  whose  weight  would 
not  be  lightened,  any  sorrow  whose  pain  would  not 
be  lessened,  any  care  or  anxiety  whose  sting  would 
not  be  drawn  by  a  frank  and  full  committal  of  it 


1 


84     THE    SACRAMENTAL    COMMITTAL 

to  God  ?  "Cast  thj  burden  on  the  Lord  and  He  shall 
sustain  thee."  Is  there  any  path  of  life  so  dark  and 
hard  that  light  could  not  come  to  the  feet  from  sub- 
mitting all  to  God  in  humble,  simple  faith  ?  "Com- 
mit thy  way  unto  the  Lord ;  trust  also  in  Him ;  and 
He  shall  bring  it  to  pass."  Is  there  any  stain  of 
the  past,  any  doubt  of  the  present,  any  fear  of  the 
future  that  could  not  be  relieved  by  a  free  bestowal 
of  all  you  are  ?  Is  there  any  part  of  your  being — 
body,  soul,  and  spirit — that  He  has  no  claims  over, 
and  that  will  not  be  enriched  and  glorified  by  being 
offered  to  its  Lord  ?  If  we  would  taste  the  full  com- 
fort of  Communion  and  enter  into  its  peace  and 
joy,  we  must  trust  the  eternal  love,  and  know  whom 
we  have  believed.  We  must  bring  our  life's  poor 
hoard,  and  give  it  into  His  faithful  keeping.  Let 
us  do  this  in  remembrance  of  Him.  And  in  the 
sweet  assurance  of  His  love,  in  the  glad  faith  of  the 
Table,  we  will  be  persuaded  that  He  is  able  to  keep 
that  which  we  have  conmiitted  unto  Him  against  that 
day. 


VII 
A  FURTHER  SACRAMENTAL  COMMITTAL 

That  good  thing  which  was  committed  unto  thee  keep  by  the  Holy 
Qhost  which  dwelleth  in  us. — 3  Timothy  i,  14. 

The  Apostle  has  uttered  his  magnificent  personal 
faith  that  he  knows  whom  he  has  believed.  The  basis 
of  his  confidence  is  that  he  has  made  full  surrender 
to  the  will  and  love  of  God.  He  has  given  himself: 
body,  soul,  and  spirit;  his  life,  past,  present,  and 
future;  as  a  trust,  the  security  for  which  is  the 
character  of  the  Trustee.  He  has  handed  over  all 
he  has  and  it  is  as  a  deposit,  which  he  is  confident  God 
will  guard.  "I  am  persuaded  that  He  is  able  to  keep 
that  which  I  have  committed  unto  Him  against  that 
day."  He  is  in  His  gracious  and  faithful  keeping, 
and  all  must  be  well. 

This,  too,  is  our  sacramental  committal.  By  sign 
and  symbol  God  offers  His  great  love  to  us  in  Christ 
Jesus;  and  we  commit  ourselves  to  it.  Our  confi- 
dence is  not  in  ourselves,  but  in  Him,  in  His  power 
and  desire  to  save  and  keep  and  hold  and  guard. 

85 


86   FURTHER  SACRAMENTAL  COMMITTAL 

!N'one  can  pluck  us  out  of  His  hand  of  love.  Our 
deposit  is  safe.  We  enter  into  peace  when  we  enter 
into  this  relation  with  our  Heavenly  Father.  We  take 
the  hread  and  wine  as  seals  attesting  His  promises 
and  confirming  His  love.  ISTot  upon  us  but  upon 
Him  is  the  burden:  not  in  us  but  in  Him  is  the 
strength:  not  unto  us  but  imto  Him  be  the  glory. 
A  frank  and  full  and  free  committal  is  what  our  sac- 
rament implies  on  our  part.  We  need  not  fear  for 
the  result;  we  need  not  hesitate  as  to  the  security; 
we  need  have  no  doubts  as  to  the  strength  of  our  sup- 
port. He  cannot  fail  nor  disappoint  us.  He  will 
justify  our  faith  in  our  own  experience.  We  know 
whom  we  have  believed  and  are  persuaded  that  He 
is  able  to  keep  that  which  we  have  committed  unto 
Him  against  that  day. 

The  Apostle  turns  from  this  personal  faith  which 
is  the  common  Christian  confession,  and  says,  "That 
good  thing  which  was  committed  unto  Thee,  keep." 
It  seems  like  a  flat  contradiction  of  what  has  gone 
before.  The  same  words  and  the  very  same  figure 
are  used  in  what  seems  an  opposite  sense.  He  had 
said,  "He  is  able  to  guard  my  deposit";  and  here 
he  says,  "The  good  deposit  guard  thou."  But  they 
are  only  two  aspects  of  the  same  Christian  life.  The 
one  is  what  we  in  our  faith  have  committed  to  God. 


FURTHER  SACRAMENTAL  COMMITTAL    87 

The  other  is  what  God  has  committed  to  us.  We 
have  spoken  of  the  sacramental  committal  in  which 
we  throw  ourselves  on  the  eternal  love,  but  the  in- 
evitable consequence  of  that  is  another  committal 
in  which  we  almost  seem  thrown  back  on  ourselves. 
We  have  entrusted  God  with  our  deposit,  made  Him 
our  trustee  in  whom  we  confide.  Then  we  realise 
that  God  confides  in  us,  makes  us  trustees  of  a  great 
trust,  give  us  a  deposit  which  we  are  to  guard, 
commits  to  us  something  for  our  faithful  keeping. 
Our  sacramental  committal  involves  this  further  com- 
mittal, and  the  grace  of  Communion  has  not  had  free 
course  in  our  hearts  unless  it  issues  in  this.  It  is 
privilege  pointing  to  duty,  grace  demanding  its  price, 
a  gift  claiming  responsibility. 

We  can  be  sure  that  what  we  have  committed  to 
God  is  safe.  Can  God  be  sure  of  us  ?  It  is  because 
our  keeping  of  our  trust  is  so  precarious,  because  we 
are  so  fickle  and  thoughtless,  because  we  can  some- 
times even  forget  that  we  are  called  to  a  great  voca- 
tion and  must  one  day  give  in  an  account  of  our 
stewardship,  that  we  should  use  this  occasion  to  re- 
mind ourselves  of  the  charge  given  us  to  keep.  We 
come  to  the  mount  of  Communion  and  our  hearts 
are  warm  and  tender  as  we  remember  our  Lord's 
great  love.    We  are  open  to  new  impulses  and  fuller 


88   FURTHER  SACRAMENTAL  COMMITTAL 

revelations.  We  must  use  this  time  as  an  opportu- 
nity to  enrich  and  strengthen  our  whole  life.  The 
task  of  life  is  to  keep  the  good  we  have  received,  to  let 
no  man  filch  from  us  our  crown.  The  daily  problem 
to  all  of  us  is  to  preserve  our  best  impulses,  to  keep 
our  ground  gained  at  such  times  of  insight  and  faith. 
We  are  inclined  to  think  at  times  like  this  that  we 
have  now  achieved  the  summit,  that  we  will  never 
again  live  in  the  low  levels  of  thought  and  life,  that 
our  besetting  sins  are  now  put  away  for  ever  and 
will  no  more  drag  us  down.  We  have  a  rush  of 
confident  power  when  we  make  the  sacramental  com- 
mittal and  lay  our  full  weight  on  God's  love.  Eaith 
is  easy  and  love  is  natural  and  service  looks  sweet 
for  the  sake  of  Him  who  loved  us  and  gave  Himself 
for  us.  Temptation  seems  to  lift  clear  away  from 
our  life  in  the  sunshine  of  this  hour. 

But  the  trial  will  come  as  it  has  come  before.  It 
may  not  be  in  some  great  temptation,  but  merely  in  the 
stress  and  strain  of  daily  life,  in  the  constant  impact 
of  our  environment.  We  have  received  the  good 
deposit  of  the  faith ;  and  the  one  task  of  life  is  to  keep 
it.  We  know  from  sad  experience  that  we  will  need 
to  use  all  our  arts  and  wiles  and  spiritual  tactics  to 
guard  the  citadel  that  now  seems  so  secure.  Let  us 
not  blind  ourselves  to  the  facts,  and  fall  through  silly 


FURTHER  SACRAMENTAL  COMMITTAL    89 

conceit.  God  is  able  to  keep  wliat  we  have  com- 
mitted to  Him.  We  have  no  fear  or  doubt  of  that. 
But  are  we  able  to  keep  what  He  has  committed  to 
us  ?  Our  faith  in  God  is  justified ;  His  promises  are 
sure;  His  word  stands  fast;  His  love  will  be  the 
same  for  ever  that  it  is  to-daj.  But  has  our  faith 
any  justification  in  ourselves?  Remember  the  test 
of  faith  is  faithfulness.  Have  we  in  us  the  stuff 
that  will  not  weary  or  falter,  that  will  make  us  stand 
a  sleepless  sentinel  at  the  post  till  relief  comes  ?  Does 
the  word  thrill  us  with  resolution :  "Be  thou  faithful 
unto  death  and  I  will  give  thee  the  crown  of  life"  ? 
Ah,  we  know  the  truth  of  Wordsworth's  lines  in  this 
deepest  region  of  life : 

'Tis  the  most  difficult  of  tasks  to  keep 
Heights  which  the  soul  is  competent  to  gain. 

It  cannot  be  done  by  spasms^  by  special  effulgent 
moments  on  the  mount,  by  fitful  desultory  acts  of 
Communion.  It  needs  a  power  that  is  continuous, 
consecutive,  with  its  seat  on  the  throne  of  our  heart. 
Our  faith  must  not  depend  for  sustenance  on  such 
special  occasions  as  this,  useful  and  necessary  though 
they  be.  We  must  live  along  an  unbroken  line.  If 
here  at  the  Table  we  gain  any  new  impulse,  any  new 
inspiration,  any  closer  contact  with  the  spiritual,  we 


90   FURTHER  SACRAMENTAL  COMMITTAL 

must  give  ourselves  to  keep  what  we  have  gained. 
"That  good  thing  which  was  committed  unto  thee 
keep  through  the  Holy  Spirit  which  dwelleth  in  us." 
That  is  the  secret  and  the  source  of  strength.  The 
SjDirit  which  dwelleth  in  us.  Communion  must  be 
more  than  an  act.  It  must  be  the  attitude  of  our 
whole  life.  If  we  abide  in  Christ  there  will  be  no 
gap  in  the  line,  no  time  when  we  are  off  our  guard. 
Communion  will  go  on  right  through  the  days.  So 
long  as  we  keep  hold  of  God's  love,  so  long  as  we 
keep  hold  of  Christ,  so  long  as  the  Holy  Spirit  dwells 
in  us,  it  will  be  easy  to  confess  the  good  confession, 
to  fight  the  good  fight,  to  finish  the  course,  to  keep 
the  faith.  The  two  sides  of  the  Christian  life  are 
both  true,  that  we  must  guard  our  deposit  as  if 
everything  depended  on  our  own  efforts,  and  we  must 
commit  all  to  God  as  if  everything  depended  on  Him 
alone,  as  it  does. 

Watcli  as  if  on  that  alone 
Hung  the  issues  of  the  day; 
Pray  that  help  may  be  sent  down, 
Watch  and  pray. 

Remember  also  that  there  has  been  committed  unto 
us  a  cause,  as  well  as  a  ^ift.  In  a  very  real  sense 
the  interests  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  lie  in  our 
hands.      We   are   trustees   of  a  great   treasure  not 


FURTHER  SACRAMENTAL  COMMITTAL    91 

merely  for  our  own  need  but  for  the  world's  sake. 
The  honour  and  reputation  of  our  Master  have  been 
committed  to  us.  Christians  are  representatives  of 
Christ,  and  to  a  large  extent  the  world  will  judge 
Him  by  them.  It  is  a  call  to  us  to  walk  in  wisdom 
and  in  love,  to  walk  worthy  of  our  great  vocation. 
We  who  have  been  keeping  the  feast  may  we  keep 
what  the  feast  means,  may  we  keep  the  faith,  and 
serve  as  faithful  stewards  of  the  grace  of  God.  In 
peace  and  joy  we  gladly  believe  that  He  is  able  to 
keep  that  which  we  have  committed  unto  Him.  May 
that  sense  of  privilege  not  leave  us  till  it  impresses  us 
with  its  corresponding  duty :  "That  good  thing  which 
was  committed  unto  thee,  keep." 


VIII 

THE  PURSUING  SOUL:  AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
PSALM  LXIII.  BEFORE  COMMUNION 

My  soul  followeth  hard  after  Thee  :  Thy  right  hand  upJioldeth 
me. — Psalm  Ixiii.  8. 

The  poet  Donne  says  in  a  sermon:  "There  are 
some  certain  Psalms  that  are  imperial  Psalms,  that 
command  over  all  affections  and  spread  themselves 
over  all  occasions — catholic  universal  Psalms,  that 
apply  themselves  to  all  necessities.  This  is  one  of 
those."  It  is  truly  an  imperial  Psalm.  It  reveals 
and  explains  the  empire  over  the  hearts  and  souls 
of  men  which  the  Psalms  have  held.  In  this  Psalm 
we  are  brought  into  contact  with  the  highest  reach 
of  Old  Testament  religion  and  the  deepest  spirit 
of  the  Psalter  itself.  ISTowhere  is  there  such  sweet 
tenderness  and  deep  feeling;  nowhere  such  intense 
devotion  and  passionate  love;  nowhere  such  fine  ex- 
pression of  exalted  spiritual  fervour.  The  heart  of 
all  spiritual  religion  is  communion,  and  the  aim  of 

92 


THE    PURSUING    SOUL 

all  high  faith  is  communion;  and  nowhere  does  com- 
munion find  such  classic  expression. 

But,  alas!  just  because  it  is  such  an  imperial 
Psalm  we  often  feel  it  is  not  for  us,  that  we  cannot 
take  its  words  into  our  mouth,  and  cannot  spread 
it  over  all  our  occasions  and  apply  it  to  all  our 
necessities.  When  the  author  rises  to  the  ecstatic 
state  where  his  soul  seems  joined  to  God,  few  of  us 
can  follow  him.  We  move  with  broken  wing  when 
he  soars  up  into  the  light.  We  rarely,  if  ever,  reach 
such  heights.  We  almost  feel  that  it  would  be  unreal 
for  us  to  use  his  words  as  if  they  could  accurately 
state  our  actual  feelings.  Yet,  as  we  look  forward  j 
to  Communion,  it  is  good  for  us  to  see  what  Com-  I 
munion  may  be  to  a  man,  good  for  us  to  hold  out  the  j 
ideal  before  our  eyes  of  a  soul  following  hard  after 
God  and  cleaving  fast  to  Him,  upheld  by  His  right 
hand.  In  the  early  Church  this  was  the  morning^ 
song  prescribed  to  be  sung,  because  it  is  so  full  of 
love  and  desire,  and  so  full  of  joy  and  praise.  As 
we  think  of  the  symbols  of  Communion  suggesting  to 
us  a  relation  even  more  intimate  and  a  love  more 
sweet  than  ever  Psalmist  could  imagine,  let  us  cast 
away  our  fears  and  use  these  blessed  words  of  the 
Psalmist  to  revive  desire  in  us  and  to  remind  us  of 
what  is  possible  for  us.     Por,  the  same  needs  that 


94.  THE    PURSUING    SOUL 

moved  this  man  are  ours,  and  the  same  satisfaction 
that  met  his  needs  is  open  to  us  also. 

The  subject  of  the  Psahn  is  the  heart's  longing 
for  God  and  the  heart's  joy  in  His  fellowship — the 
need  for  communion  and  the  joy  of  communion. 
The  human  need  for  God  to  which  this  Psalmist 
gave  voice  demands  a  similar  expression  from  us. 
Men  may  say  that  man  cannot  know  God,  can  have 
no  personal  relations  with  the  great  First  Cause.  They 
may  say  that  there  is  no  evidence  that  God,  if  He 
exists,  interests  Himself  in  man.  They  may  say  that 
finite  man  has  really  no  capacities  by  which  he  could 
appreciate  the  infinite.  They  may  say  all  that — and 
more — ^may  say  even  flatly  that  there  is  no  God.  But 
they  cannot  say  that  man  has  no  need  of  God,  that  man 
has  no  desires  towards  God,  no  instincts  and  cravings 
and  spiritual  wants.  All  history  throbs  with  the 
passion  of  human  longing.  "Oh,  that  I  knew  where 
I  might  find  Him."  Humanity  holds  out  groping 
hands  to  the  unseen,  erects  altars  to  the  Unknown 
God.  Without  God  life  is  a  dry  and  weary  land 
where  no  water  is.  Heart  and  flesh  cry  out  for 
the  living  God.  The  need  is  ours  if  only  to  make 
life  coherent  and  save  it  from  being  a  tragic  farce. 
Augustine's  Confessions  before  his  conversion  gives 
the  record  of  a  man  of  keen  intellect  with  all  possi- 


THE    PURSUING    SOUL  95 

bility  of  the  highest  satisfaction  of  mind,  yet  is 
frank  in  the  acknowledgment  of  utter  failure  to  find 
rest.  He  was  full  of  longing,  full  of  the  torment  of 
unsatisfied  desire.  He  knew  even  then  what  he  ex- 
pressed afterwards  in  immortal  phrase:  "Thou  hast 
made  us  for  Thyself,  O  God,  and  our  heart  is  restless 
until  it  find  rest  in  Thee."  For  years  before  he 
would  make  submission  he  could  use  the  very  words 
of  this  Psalm  about  himself;  his  soul  thirsted  for 
God,  his  flesh  longed  for  Him  in  a  dry  and  weary 
land  where  no  water  is. 

But  exceeding  all  that  dim  and  dumb  desire,  that 
sense  of  incompleteness  which  men  feel,  is  the  desire 
of  the  man  who  has  known  God  that  he  might  enter 
into  full  communion  and  that  interrupted  fellow- 
ship might  be  renewed.  The  Psalmist's  situation 
corresponds  somewhat;  for  he  is  absent  from  the 
sanctuary  where  alone  he  could  realise  to  the  full 
his  loving  worship.  Absence  to  him  only  made  the 
heart  grow  fonder.  The  sense  of  deprivation  brought 
his  sense  of  need  keenly  to  his  knowledge.  To  his 
thirsty  soul  and  longing  flesh  he  is  as  in  a  dry  and 
weary  land  where  no  water  is.  He  comforts  himself 
by  happy  memory  when  in  times  past  he  had  seen 
God's  power  and  glory  revealed  in  the  sanctuary. 
He  would  fain  be  there  still,  as  another  Psalmist  in 


96  THE    PURSUING    SOUL 

similar  plight  sighed:  "How  lovely  are  Thy  taber- 
nacles, O  Lord  of  Hosts!  My  soul  longeth,  yea, 
even  fainteth,  for  the  courts  of  the  Lord."  But  this 
soul  refuses  to  be  chained  to  the  material.  He  has 
learned  that,  though  distant  from  the  Temple,  he  is 
not  separated  from  God.  His  heart  is  a  sanctuary. 
Spiritually  he  dwells  in  the  House  of  the  Lord,  and 
feels  that  the  divine  love  follows  him.  He  had  val- 
ued highly  the  opportunities  afforded  by  the  Temple 
and  the  institutions  of  worship,  all  the  aids  to  devo- 
tion of  the  sanctuary.  He  had  valued  them  more 
highly  than  we  do  the  Church  and  sacraments,  for 
they  meant  more  to  the  religion  of  his  time.  But  now 
that  he  had  lost  the  symbol,  he  had  not  lost  the  sub- 
stance for  which  it  stood.  Religion  meant  more  to 
him  than  outward  ceremonial,  however  helpful.  Cal- 
vin draws  this  lesson  for  us :  "The  mystical  union 
subsisting  between  Christ  and  His  members  should 
be  matter  of  reflection  not  only  when  we  sit  at  the 
Lord's  Table,  but  at  all  other  times.  Or  suppose 
that  the  Lord's  Supper  and  other  means  of  advanc- 
ing our  spiritual  welfare  were  taken  from  us  by  an 
exercise  of  tyrannical  power,  it  does  not  follow  that 
our  minds  should  ever  cease  to  be  occupied  with  the 
contemplation  of  God."  This  Psalmist  had  got  past 
the  sign  to  the  reality,  and  his  cry  was  not  for  the 


THE    PURSUING    SOUL  97 

sanctuary,  but  for  the  God  of  the  sanctuary.     Every 
pulse  of  his  being  thrills  with  love  of  God. 

The  Hebrew  division  of  human  nature  was  a  two- 
fold division,  into  soul  and  flesh  or  body.  When  the 
Psalmist  speaks  of  his  soul  thirsting  and  his  flesh 
longing,  he  means  that  his  whole  being  desires  God ; 
his  entire  nature,  body  and  spirit,  aches  for  God,  as 
that  other  Psalmist,  whom  we  have  already  quoted, 
who  had  also  penetrated  past  the  symbols  of  religion, 
said :  "My  heart  and  my  flesh  crieth  out  for  the  living 
God."  So  convinced  was  the  sacred  poet  here  of  this 
that  he  feels  that  there  is  to  him  nothing  else  in  all 
the  universe  but  God  and  his  own  soul.  For  example, 
life  to  him  is  a  great  blessing.  It  is  the  physical 
basis  of  all  other  possible  blessings.  But  he  declares : 
"Thy  lovingkindness  is  better  than  life."  That  to 
him  is  the  true  life,  the  only  life  to  be  called  life. 
Knowing  that,  possessing  that,  he  is  content,  he  has 
all  things,  he  abounds.  His  soul,  as  he  goes  on  to 
sing,  shall  be  satisfied  with  marrow  and  fatness, 
and  his  mouth  shall  sing  praises  with  joyful  lips. 
There  has  been  established  between  this  soul  and  God 
a  personal  relation  of  communion,  which  he  himself 
describes  in  these  words:  "My  soul  followeth  hard 
after  Thee :  Thy  right  hand  upholdeth  me."  Man's 
desire  is  met  by  God's  love.    He  clings  to  God  and 


98  THE    PURSUING    SOUL 

God  upholds  him:  He  follows  hard  after  God,  and 
God  never  lets  him  go.     So  he  says,  and  feels. 

This  verse  describing  the  mutual  relation  between 
his  soul  and  God  is  an  epitome  of  the  whole  Psalm, 
and  is  a  summary  of  his  faith  and  life.  God  has  been 
his  help  and  in  the  shadow  of  His  wings  he  exults, 
shouts  for  joy.  His  soul  is  satisfied  as  with  marrow 
and  fat,  and  he  sings  with  jubilant  lips.  He  is  never 
without  resource.  Is  he  in  a  dry  and  weary  land 
where,  no  water  is  ? — his  soul  is  satisfied  with  good 
things,  and  out  of  the  glare  he  creeps  into  the  shadow 
of  the  eternal  wings.  Is  it  in  the  night  time,  in 
sleepless  watches? — he  welcomes  the  quiet  oppor- 
tunity to  remember  God  and  meditate  on  His  love. 
However  dark  and  dreary,  he  is  never  lonely — he 
puts  out  his  hand  and  feels  that  He  is  near,  he  rests 
in  the  presence  of  his  gracious  Companion. 

Did  the  joy  of  communion  ever  find  such  beautiful 
expression  ?  Did  man  ever  state  it  in  more  winning 
and  attractive  form?  Instead  of  saying  a  lot  of 
things  in  general  about  communion, — the  how  and 
the  why  and  the  when  and  the  wherefore, — is  it  not 
something  better  than  answering  all  these  questions 
simply  to  look  on  this  fair  life  and  sweet  soul  ?  Take 
this  Psalm  for  reflection  and  meditation,  and  see  if 
in  any  sense  you  can  use  the  gracious  words  for 


THE    PURSUING    SOUL  99 

yourself.  It  is  much  to  know  that  such  a  relation 
has  been,  that  a  man  has  been  so  near  the  secret.  We 
feel  that  this  man's  words  are  true.  He  was  a  sin- 
cere and  transparent  soul  simply  and  sweetly  and 
humbly  apprehending  God,  living  and  walking  in 
the  light.  We  feel  that  he  speaks  out  of  experimental 
faith.  He  knows  whom  he  has  believed.  He  has 
proved  and  tested  his  faith,  and  found  it  fit  to  live 
by.  N"ay,  God's  lovingkindness  is  better  than  life. 
Without  it  there  would  be  nothing  to  live  for. 

We  have  pledges  of  that  love  more  precious  than 
this  pious  heart  could  even  dream  of.  The  symbols 
of  Communion  speak  to  us  with  a  power  and  a  pathos 
that  would  have  put  new  music  into  the  Psalmist's 
song  and  a  new  wonder  into  his  heart.  Is  the  food 
for  the  hungry  soul  less  rich  and  less  bountiful  in 
Communion  than  when  this  man  sang  with  joyful 
lips:  "My  soul  shall  be  satisfied  with  marrow  and 
fatness"  ?  Have  we  less  worthy  things  to  meditate 
on  in  the  night  watches  ?  Were  the  power  and  glory 
symbolised  in  the  Jewish  Temple  more  affecting  and 
inspiring  than  the  broken  bread  and  the  wine  poured 
out  ?  Where,  then,  are  the  jubilant  lips  ?  The 
Psalmist  shames  us  by  his  joy  and  peace  and  by  his 
devotion  and  love  and  spiritual  desire.  Let  us  use 
his   example   to   revive  our  faith   and   inflame   our 


100  THE    PURSUING    SOUL 

hearts  with  fresh  devotion,  to  renew  in  us  an  appre- 
ciation of  God's  goodness  and  lovingkindness.  May 
it  make  us  eager  to  taste  and  see  that  the  Lord  is 
good.  May  it  quicken  in  us  the  soul-appetite  for 
communion.  If  we  hunger  and  thirst  and  long 
for  God,  will  not  we  too  be  satisfied  with  His  mercy  ? 
If  we  can  say,  "My  soul  followeth  hard  after  Thee," 
we  also  can  be  sure  of  this  both  now  and  for  ever, 
"Thy  right  hand  upholdeth  me."  If  God  is  our 
desire,  God  will  be  our  portion.  The  pursuing  soul 
reaches  at  last  his  goal  and  is  satisfied.  God  is  the 
rewarder  of  them  that  diligently  seek  Him. 


IX 
THE  LORD'S  DESIRE 

With  desire  I  have  desired  to  eat  this  Passover  with  you  before  1 
suffer. — Luke  xxii.  15. 

"The  feast  of  unleavened  bread  drew  nigh,  which  is 
called  the  Passover,"  a  great  time  in  every  Jewish 
house,  and  to  Jesus  and  His  disciples  this  particular 
Passover  was  to  be  full  of  special  significance.  The 
usual  preparations  were  made,  but  every  incident 
mentioned  in  the  narrative  heightens  the  sense  of 
solemnity.  There  were  deeper  preparations,  no  doubt, 
than  those  made  by  Peter  and  John  when  they  went 
to  the  good-man  of  the  house  with  a  message:  "The 
Master  saith  unto  thee.  Where  is  the  guest  chamber 
where  I  shall  eat  the  Passover  with  My  disciples  ?" 
We  are  made  to  feel  the  elements  of  tragedy  as  the 
story  unfolds  how,  when  the  time  of  the  feast  drew 
nigh,  malice  and  hatred  reached  a  climax  without, 
and  treachery  within.  "Then  came  the  day  of  un- 
leavened bread  when  the  Passover  must  be  killed," 
and  we  have  the  Master's  thoughtful  consideration, 
and  the  disciples'  affectionate  preparations.     "And 

101 


102  THE    LORD'S    DESIRE 

when  the  hour  was  come.  He  sat  down,  and  the  twelve 
apostles  with  Him."  Every  touch  adds  significance 
to  the  narrative,  increasing  the  sense  of  importance 
which  indeed  the  Church  afterwards  has  felt  to  lie 
in  this  simple  feast. 

It  is  not  only  the  simple,  loving  desire  of  Jesus 
to  be  as  much  in  the  company  of  His  disciples  as 
possible  before  the  end  came.  This  is  the  culmina- 
tion of  the  whole  work  of  the  Redeemer,  and  the 
story  is  told  that  we  may  realise  it  to  be  so.  The 
deeper  explanation  is  found  in  this  region.  The 
time  of  the  Master's  baptism  of  fire  is  come,  and  as 
He  had  said  before  on  looking  forward  to  it :  "How 
am  I  straitened  until  it  be  accomplished."  It  was 
the  constraint  of  love  to  finish  the  work  He  had 
been  given  to  do.  The  strange  combination  we  find 
in  the  word  "passion,"  as  meaning  both  a  great 
flame  of  love  and  a  fierce  flame  of  suffering,  has  never 
been  so  illustrated  anywhere  as  in  the  Passion  of  our 
Lord.  It  was  desire  and  anguish,  sweet  and  bitter, 
love  and  suffering.  When  the  hour  was  come  and 
He  sat  down  at  the  prepared  feast,  He  said:  "With 
desire  I  have  desired  to  eat  this  Passover  with  you 
before  I  suffer." 

The  Passion  has  begun.  There  is  fathomless  depth 
of  love  in  it,  and  the  fathomless  mystery  of  sorrow. 


THE    LORD'S    DESIRE  103 

The  feast  was  the  prelude  to  the  suffering,  and  yet 
He  desired  it.  'Naj,  we  can  say  that  the  feast  was 
the  prelude  to  the  suffering,  and  therefore  He  de- 
sired it.  For,  that  way  of  the  Cross  whose  shadow 
lay  athwart  His  steps  was  the  way  of  the  Father's 
will  and  the  way  of  redemption.  We  are  made  to 
feel  that  this  was  a  new  passover  of  which  the  old 
was  merely  a  dim  and  shadowy  emblem.  In  this 
new  passover  the  victim  is  himself  the  priest,  and 
the  redemption  achieved  is  something  profounder 
than  the  release  from  Egypt.  It  was  for  this  that 
Christ  had  come  and  had  been  preparing,  and  to 
this  He  had  been  looking  forward  with  eagerness 
and  with  fear,  straitened  till  it  be  accomplished. 
The  disciples  do  not  understand  the  full  solemnity  of 
the  hour  and  the  act.  They  had  been  concerned 
about  arrangements  and  some  even  were  squabbling 
about  precedence,  but  they  are  made  to  feel  at 
last  something  of  the  awe  in  the  Master's  heart. 

Why  did  He  desire  with  such  eager,  ardent  long- 
ing to  eat  this  special  Passover  with  them  ?  (I.)  For 
His  own  sake.  "Before  I  suffer."  There  was  com- 
fort to  His  own  heart  that  He  should  be  able  to 
manifest  His  love.  With  tender,  solemn  thought  He 
had  looked  forward  to  it,  and  He  desired  the  support 
of  their  fellowship  for  what  lay  before  Him.     We 


104  THE    LORD'S    DESIRE 

think  of  our  Holy  Communion  as  representing  the 
satisfaction  of  our  desire,  and  it  is  so.  It  typifies 
to  us  all  the  strength  and  comfort  of  our  faith,  all 
the  gifts  bestowed  on  ns,  the  gifts  of  the  Father's 
love,  the  gift  of  God  which  is  eternal  life.  We  think 
of  what  it  means  to  us  that  fellowship  with  God  is 
possible,  that  we  can  walk  in  His  light  and  have 
our  souls  fed  with  His  love.  We  think  of  all  we 
can  get,  and  do  get,  from  religion,  support  in  tempta- 
tion, strength  in  weakness,  comfort  of  sorrow,  for- 
giveness of  sin,  and  abundant  entrance  into  the  house- 
hold of  faith  and  love.  It  is  mostly  the  satisfaction 
of  our  desire  we  think  of,  and  this  is  natural,  but 
it  is  also  and  first  of  all,  the  satisfaction  of  His 
desire — the  love  that  is  never  weary  of  giving,  but 
can  find  no  rest  until  it  finds  opportunities  of  giving ; 
the  love  that  ever  longs  to  pour  out  its  treasures  on 
the  loved.  If  we  have  ever  sought  God,  it  is  because 
He  has  first  sought  us.  If  we  have  found  Him,  it  is 
because  He  has  found  us.  If  we  love  Him,  it  is  be- 
cause He  first  loved  us.  If  with  any  sort  of  desire  wg 
have  desired  communion,  it  is  because  with  a  deeper 
desire  He  has  desired  it.  God  is  far  more  willing 
and  eager  to  give  than  we  are  to  receive.  The 
Master  here  desired  to  eat  this  Passover  with  His 
disciples  before  He  suffered,  for  His  own  feake,  for 


THE    LORD'S    DESIRE  105 

the  satisfaction  of  His  own  love,  for  the  support  to 
His  own  soul  as  He  went  to  the  last  act  of  His 
Passion.  It  is  the  nature  of  such  love  as  His  to 
desire  this.  It  can  have  no  satisfaction  until  it  gives 
itself.  So  that  until  we  respond  to  the  love  of  God 
we  are  not  only  depriving  ourselves  of  the  best  bless- 
ing, but  we  are  also  robbing  God.  We  are  refusing 
a  love  that  desires  with  great  desire.  Can  even  the 
Lord's  Passion  be  said  to  be  accomplished  so  long  as 
He  has  this  cross  on  His  heart,  so  long  as  we  refuse 
to  let  Him  give  Himself  ? 

(II.)  For  their  sake  also.  The  final  act  of  suffer- 
ing would  be  a  great  trial  to  the  disciiDles,  They 
were  to  know  something  of  the  sorrow  of  desolation, 
and  Christ  was  eager  to  prepare  them  for  that  dark 
future.  He  was  eager  to  seal  the  truth  on  their 
hearts,  and  make  them  know  that  His  very  death 
which  they  would  mourn  was  a  manifestation  of  His 
love.  He  wished  to  comfort  them  with  His  presence, 
and  to  lead  them  gently  into  the  deep  things.  If 
they  were  assured  of  His  deathless  love  they  would 
find  comfort  when  the  shock  of  His  death  came. 
They  could  look  back  on  this  feast  and  on  these 
words,  and  gather  strength  to  suffer  and  to  wait. 
And  so  it  is  for  us  also  who  are  His  disciples.  Our 
feast  of  love  not  only  represents  the  desire  of  the 


106  THE    LORD'S    DESIRE 

Lord  to  give  Himself,  but  rejDresents  the  joy  of  the 
gift  to  us.  "With  desire  I  have  desired  to  eat  this 
Passover  with  you."  This  manifestation  of  love  is 
for  our  comfort  and  strength,  and  we,  like  the  dis- 
ciples, can  use  the  occasion  to  prepare  us  for  what 
lies  before  us.  There  may  be  trial,  burdens  heavy 
to  be  borne;  there  may  be  suffering  for  us  as  for 
Him;  there  must  be  death  one  day.  And  before 
such  happenings  it  is  surely  a  comfort  and  strength 
for  us  also  to  become  sure  of  the  love  of  God  in 
Christ.  If  we  can  in  any  sense  apply  these  words 
to  ourselves  which  the  Master  used  to  His  first  dis- 
ciples, "With  desire  I  have  desired  to  eat  this 
Passover  with  you,"  it  must  be  an  inspiration  in 
every  dark  pass  of  life.  The  thought  of  God's  inter- 
est in  us  and  love  for  us  is  indeed  an  inspiration. 

(1)  In  sorrow  there  is  no  other  way  of  permanent 
comfort.  We  may  learn  to  bear  and  harden  our- 
selves for  the  blow,  but  there  is  no  issue  into  peace 
that  way.  There  is  sorrow  too  deep  for  surface  heal- 
ing, and  the  heart  that  alone  knows  the  heart's  bit- 
terness needs  inward  remedy.  Only  the  assurance  of 
God's  love  can  do  for  us  what  we  need  in  the  desolate 
hour,  and  we  take  our  Communion  as  speaking  to  us 
of  the  desire  of  God's  love  on  our  behalf.  The  love 
that  takes  us  by  green  pastures  and  quiet  waters  is 


THE    LORD'S    DESIRE  107 

with  us  also  in  the  dark  valley  of  the  shadow.  To  be 
sure  of  God's  love  is  to  be  content  even  in  the  night  of 
sorrow;  for  the  day  will  break  and  the  shadows 
flee  away. 

(2)  Or  in  temptation  there  is  inspiration  in  this 
same  thought.  JSTo thing  will  enable  us  to  stand  up 
under  the  fierce  moral  trial  of  life,  except  this  assur- 
ance of  God's  interest  in  us  and  His  highest  desire 
for  us.  We  cannot  escape  temptation — it  meets  us 
in  the  face,  it  creeps  up  behind  us,  it  plucks  us  on 
this  side  and  on  that.  The  life  of  moral  man  is  the 
tempted  life.  So  insistent  and  persistent  is  tempta- 
tion that  alone  we  have  no  chance  of  victorious  re- 
sistance. But  when  we  are  not  alone,  when  we  know 
ourselves  re-enforced  by  all-conquering  love,  the 
impossible  becomes  possible.  Prepare  yourselves  for 
every  temptation  that  can  meet  you  by  strengthening 
yourselves  at  the  Holy  Table.  To  be  sure  of  our 
Father's  interest  and  love  is  bread  and  wine  that 
can  feed  the  hungry  soul  and  support  it  in  the  fiery 
trial  of  temptation. 

(3)  Or  take  the  doleful  mother,  of  both  sorrow 
and  temptation,  sin,  what  possibility  of  escape  is 
there  except  here  in  what  Communion  stands  for, 
the  compassionate,  forgiving  love  of  God  ?  That  He 
should  desire  to  give  us  His  love,  to  give  us  Him- 


108  THE    LORD'S    DESIRE 

self,  is  our  only  hope.  We  are  like  lost  sheep  that 
have  wandered  out  of  the  way,  and  lost  we  must 
remain  if  the  Good  Shepherd  go  not  to  seek  and  to 
save  the  lost.  If  there  be  no  passion  of  desire  in 
His  heart  to  save,  we  cannot  save  ourselves.  Our 
Communion  speaks  to  us  of  His  desire.  It  is  because 
He  desired  it  with  such  intensity  that  He  suffered 
and  that  He  made  this  Passover  a  pledge  of  His 
desire  before  He  suffered.  He  was  called  Jesus 
because  He  saves  His  people  from  their  sins.  He 
is  the  Lamb  of  God  that  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the 
world.  The  simple  symbols  of  our  feast  mean  for 
us  forgiveness,  cleansing,  renewed  strength — all  to 
deal  with  this  tragedy  of  sin  that  mars  our  life. 

If  the  Saviour  with  desire  desires  to  eat  this 
Passover  with  us,  shall  there  be  no  corresponding 
desire  in  our  heart?  Will  there  be  no  answering 
response?  It  is  all  He  asks  for — desire.  If  we 
come  humbly  because  we  need,  because  we  want,  be- 
cause w^e  desire.  He  will  fulfil  the  desire  of  them 
that  fear  Him.  It  is  not  only  that  He  gives 
gracious  gifts  for  our  need  in  sorrow  or  temptation 
or  sin,  and  not  only  that  He  gives  love,  but  also  that 
He  gives  Himself.  When  we  can  say,  ''There  is  none 
on  earth  that  I  desire  besides  Thee,"  we  are  on  the 
way  to  be  satisfied. 


CORDS  OF  A  MAN:  AFTER  COMMUNION 

I  drew  tliem  with  cords  of  a  inan,  with  bands  of  love  ;  and  I  was 
to  tJiem  as  they  that  take  off  the  yoke  on  their  jaws,  and  I  laid  meat 
before  them. — Hosea  xi.  4. 

HosEA^  who  lived  at  the  decline  and  fall  of  the  ]N'orth- 
ern  Kingdom  of  Israel,  had  to  speak  mostly  of  doom. 
He  was  face  to  face  with  the  evil  conditions  which 
he  knew  must  result  in  doom.  His  sensitive  heart 
was  torn  with  anguish  as  he  saw  the  sin  and  misery 
of  his  time,  and  as  he  looked  forward  to  the  dark 
days  in  front  of  them.  The  nation  was  blundering 
on  to  ruin  through  the  stupidity  of  rulers,  the  for- 
malism of  religion,  and  the  consequent  degradation 
of  life.  With  a  miserable  opportunism,  which  has 
always  been  thought  by  worldly-wisdom  to  be  true 
statecraft,  the  ruling  classes  were  intriguing  now 
with  Egypt  and  now  with  Assyria,  not  understanding 
that  they  were  only  making  their  coimtry  a  pawn  in 
the  great  game  of  these  two  world-powers.  Through 
the  weakening  of  religion,  corruption  was  eating  into 
the  morale  of  the  people. 

109 


110  CORDS    OF    A    MAN 

The  prophet,  loving  his  country  with  a  passionate 
devotion,  had  no  hope  for  the  future  except  from 
J;he  mercy  of  God  using  the  inevitable  chastisement 
to  bring  Israel  back  to  a  purer  faith  and  a  nobler  life. 
This  is  why,  in  spite  of  his  intense  patriotism,  he 
almost  welcomes  the  exile  he  predicts.  Just  because 
of  this  mercy  and  love  of  God  in  which  he  trusts,  he 
never  ceases  to  hope  against  hope,  to  strive  up  to 
the  very  last  to  lead  the  people  to  a  better  mind.  The 
book  is  full  of  the  most  tender  appeals,  that  after  all 
these  centuries  tpuch  the  heart  still  with  their  pathos. 
He  breaks  off  from  denunciation  and  judgment  ever 
and  anon  into  pleadings  and  persuasions.  It  is  a  book 
of  tears  and  blood.  It  reads  like  the  tossing  of  a 
soul  in  the  agony  of  hopeless  love;  and  yet  because 
he  never  ceases  to  love,  he  never  quite  ceases  to  hope. 
It  reads  like  a  journey  in  the  valley  of  the  shadow 
of  death,  through  which  here  and  there  strike  gleams 
of  light,  which  presage  an  ultimate  exit  from  the 
gloom  into  the  sunshine  once  more. 

These  hopeful  moments  are  chiefly  when  Hosea 
reviews  the  past  history  of  Israel,  and  tells  again 
how  God  had  chosen  them,  and  led  them,  and  loved 
them.  He  cannot  believe  that  God's  wonderful  love 
can  be  lost.  It  will  surely  make  its  irresistible  appeal 
to  them  still.    He  dwells  on  that  beautiful  past,  half 


CORDS    OF    A    MAN  111 

in  melanclioly  reflection  on  the  contrast,  and  half 
in  persuasive  pleading  that  the  old  relations  between 
the  nation  and  their  God  may  be  restored.  The  early 
days  in  Egypt  and  the  Desert,  full  of  unquestion- 
ing faith  and  devoted  service  as  they  seem  now, 
viewed  through  the  softening  medium  of  the  years — 
that  history  of  heroism  on  the  side  of  Israel  was  a 
history  of  grace  on  the  part  of  God.  The  prophet 
stops  in  his  message  of  doom  to  recall  lovingly  the 
early  period  of  Israel's  national  existence,  and  sees 
God's  love  claiming  them,  and  meeting  with  fit  re- 
sponse. "When  Israel  was  a  child,  then  I  loved 
him,  and  called  my  son  out  of  Egypt."  But  even 
then  as  the  prophet  looks  back  he  sees  evidences  of 
the  same  unthinking,  rebellious  disposition,  the  same 
ingratitude,  the  same  lack  of  appreciation  that  God 
was  leading  and  training  them.  "I  taught  Ephraim 
to  go,  taking  them  by  the  arms;  but  they  knew  not 
that  I  healed  them.  I  drew  them  with  cords  of  a 
man,  with  bands  of  love ;  and  I  was  to  them  as  they 
that  take  off  the  yoke  on  their  jaws,  and  I  laid  meat 
before  them." 

The  two  figures  express  the  thought  of  special 
providence  which  had  watched  over  their  past,  a 
providence  which  had  been  continuous,  beginning 
with  them  in  their  youth  and  going  with  them  right 


112  CORDS    OF    A    MAN 

up  to  years  of  manliood.  It  was  training,  considerate, 
kind,  designed  for  their  best  interests,  the  training 
of  love.  In  the  earliest  days  of  all  God  taught  the 
nation  to  walk,  holding  it  by  the  arms,  with  patience 
and  affection,  as  a  mother  teaches  her  child,  en- 
couraging him,  but  not  too  quickly  lest  he  should 
overtask  his  strength;  and  when  he  falls  taking 
him  up  in  her  arms,  comforting  him  and  healing 
him. 

And  then  as  the  nation  grew  strong  and  could 
walk,  and  like  a  child  now  grown  to  manhood  was 
set  tasks  and  had  to  bend  to  serious  burdens,  like 
the  oxen  which  did  all  the  draught-work  in  Palestine, 
the  figure  changes  from  that  of  a  loving  father  or 
mother  teaching  a  child  to  that  of  a  considerate 
master  driving  a  team  of  oxen.  A  kind  Avaggoner  is 
thoughtful  about  his  beasts,  seems  to  enter  sympa- 
thetically into  any  special  difficulty  of  the  road,  goes  to 
their  head  and  with  a  word  and  a  touch  makes  them 
feel  that  he  is  not  neglectful.  The  yoke,  in  the  case 
of  draught-oxen,  is  fixed  over  the  brow  near  the  horns, 
and  so  comes  down  over  the  jaws.  The  merciful 
driver  eases  the  yoke  where  it  bites  the  cheeks,  and 
by  his  encouraging  touch  gets  them  over  hard  places ; 
and  when  the  time  of  rest  comes,  slips  the  yoke  off 
their  jaws   that  they  may   eat   their  meat  easily. 


CORDS    OF    A    MAN  113 

When  Israel  was  grown  up  and  had  to  carry  heavy 
burdens,  which  is  the  lot  of  all  men,  God  was  to  them 
as  a  considerate  Master,  never  leaving  them^  making 
them  feel  that  He  was  with  them  through  it  all, 
setting  them  to  the  tasks,  and  gently  leading  them, 
and  strenuously  upholding  them,  taking  His  place 
beside  them,  treating  them  with  human  sympathy, 
drawing  them  with  cords  of  a  man,  with  bands  of 
love. 

They  are  homely  figures  of  a  father  with  the 
patience  of  love  towards  his  little  child,  and  of  a 
waggoner  with  the  kindness  of  sympathy  towards  his 
labouring  cattle ;  but  what  figures  could  be  more  ex- 
pressive of  the  thought  which  Hosea  is  seeking  to 
express  of  the  constant  loving  providence  of  God? 
To  the  understanding  heart,  God's  love  was  seen  to 
be  brooding  over  Israel's  past :  it  and  it  alone  was  the 
explanation  of  their  history:  and  it  is  the  explana- 
tion even  of  the  severe  discipline  which  the  prophet 
predicted  for  the  disobedient  children,  the  unruly 
heifers  which  Israel  had  become.  His  love  faileth 
never.  Out  of  the  darkness,  which  was  settling  down 
over  the  apostate  people,  comes  a  voice,  a  passionate, 
pleading  voice,  a  voice  which  breaks  with  tenderness, 
a  voice  from  the  very  heart  of  the  Eternal,  the  voice 
of  exhaustless  love  that  cannot  be  worn  out.     Out 


114  CORDS    OF    A    MAN 

of  the  deep  of  judgment  comes  that  voice,  plead- 
ing, beseeching  still:  "How  can  I  give  thee  up,  O 
Ephraim  ?  How  can  I  surrender  thee,  O  Israel  ?  How 
can  I  give  thee  up  ?  My  heart  is  turned  within  Me. 
I  am  melted  with  sympathy."  He  would  still  as  of 
old,  still  even  at  the  eleventh  hour,  draw  them  with 
cords  of  a  man,  with  bands  of  love. 

Is  not  this  explanation  of  Israel's  history  the  true 
reading  of  our  own  experience  ?  The  secret  of  all 
God's  dealings  with  us  is  love.  Surely  we  see  this 
now  as  we  look  back,  and  recall  each  separate  stage. 
If  we  have  any  spiritual  insight  we  must  see  that 
God  has  been  in  all  our  life,  loving  us  from  earliest 
days,  teaching  us  first  by  instinctive  faith,  with  the 
care  and  patience  of  a  father;  accepting  from  us 
childish  almost  unconscious  trust,  though  we  may 
not  have  known  that  He  healed  us.  "I  girded  thee, 
though  thou  didst  not  know  Me."  And  then  when 
the  burden  of  life  came  upon  us,  when  we  had  to 
bend  our  neck  to  the  yoke  like  labouring  cattle.  He 
made  us  strong  by  the  assurance  of  His  sympathy. 
Even  in  the  experience  that  was  hardest  to  under- 
stand, one  day  it  comes  to  us  with  the  force  of  a 
revelation  that  God  has  been  teaching  and  training 
"US.  It  is  this  that  makes  the  religious  man,  and 
distinguishes  him  from  the  irreligious.     Upon  all 


CORDS    OF    A    MAN  115 

men  are  laid  the  trials  and  tasks  of  life ;  to  all  men 
come  the  burden  and  the  yoke.  To  most  it  comes  in 
the  form  of  work,  the  daily  routine  and  drudgery. 
In  what  are  we  different  from  the  draught-oxen  that 
plod  with  their  load  ?  In  what  so  good,  if  they  know 
their  master  and  respond  to  his  word  and  move  to  his 
touch?  It  is  here  is  seen  the  inspiring  power  of 
religion,  the  sense  of  carrying  the  burdens  for  God, 
that,  like  the  waggoner  to  his  team,  He  has  set  us 
to  the  work,  and  given  us  the  task.  There  is  no 
other  way  of  ennobling  work  from  drudgery,  and  con- 
secrating life  into  service. 

The  religious  man  knows  that  God  is  in  all  his 
experience,  ever  drawing  him  with  cords  of  a  man, 
with  bands  of  love.  This  consciousness  of  the  divine 
sympathy  makes  a  man  strong,  and  assures  him  that 
his  life  is  worth  living  since  it  commands  the  interest 
of  heaven.  But  for  this,  what  a  poor  futile  thing 
human  life  would  be,  lived  under  a  grey  sky  on  a 
sodden  earth !  And  what  soulless  drudgery  all  work 
would  be,  a  monotone  of  labour,  instead  of  a  harmony 
of  duty!  In  the  inspiring  power  of  God's  love  we 
are  not  dumb,  driven  cattle  who  can  understand  noth- 
ing but  the  lash ;  we  are  instead  co-workers  with  God, 
and  He  becomes  as  a  man  beside  us,  with  gentle 
sympathy  and  helpful  kindness. 


116  CORDS    OF    A    MAN 

If  this  relationship  between  a  man  and  God  were 
possible,  conld  there  be  anything  to  match  it  as  a 
motive  for  lifting  life  to  high  levels  of  thought  and 
endeavour  ?  If  it  were  possible  for  a  man  to  so  walk 
with  God  his  Master,  and  for  God  to  so  condescend 
to  man  His  creature,  would  it  not  transform  the 
world  to  the  man,  making  duty  light,  and  rough 
places  smooth,  and  flooding  all  life  with  grace  and 
beauty  ?  If  it  were  possible !  That  it  is  possible 
is  a  fact  of  religious  experience.  The  whole  Bible 
is  the  revelation  of  God  as  precisely  that,  declaring 
His  desire  for  man  to  be  that,  asserting  the  possi- 
bility of  that.  Hosea  saw  the  past  history  of  Israel 
to  be  the  very  romance  of  divine  love.  It  was  the 
key  to  explain  all  His  dealing  with  them,  from  their 
childhood  right  on  through  the  long  years  of  train- 
ing. The  revelation  of  God's  divinity  has  been  a 
revelation  of  His  humanity,  drawing  them  with  the 
cords  of  a  man,  with  bands  of  love. 

How  much  more  clearly  should  the  Christian 
Church  see  this  than  even  Hosea,  after  the  greatest 
of  all  object-lessons  in  Jesus  Christ!  The  story  of 
His  wonderful  life,  full  of  compassion  and  human 
sympathy,  the  grace  and  truth  of  His  lips,  the  pity 
and  tenderness  of  His  deeds,  His  life  for  love,  and 
death  for  love,  through  it  all  does  He  not  draw  us 


CORDS    OF    A    MAN  117 

with  cords  of  a  man  ?  If  in  Christ  we  have  a  revela- 
tion of  the  Father,  if  Jesus  stands  to  ns  for  God, 
how  in  the  face  of  all  that  He  was  and  did  can  we 
doubt  the  eternal  love  of  God?  The  whole  story 
thrills  with  human  tenderness,  with  human  sympa- 
thy, sympathy  with  men  in  their  joy  and  their  sor- 
row, sympathy  with  the  little  child,  and  with  all  on 
whom  the  yoke  pressed,  the  labouring  and  heavy- 
laden.  To  all  according  to  their  needs  He  brought 
a  message  of  good-cheer,  comfort  to  the  sorrowing, 
strength  to  the  weak,  forgiveness  to  the  sinful,  assur- 
ing men  of  God's  sympathy  with  them  in  the  stress 
and  strain  of  life's  burdens,  convincing  them  that 
the  heart  of  the  Eternal  is  most  wonderfully  kind. 
And  in  the  last  great  scene  of  all,  which  culminated 
in  the  Cross,  which  we  commemorated  to-day  at 
the  Table  of  His  love,  it  is  as  the  voice  of  exhaust- 
less  love  which  Hosea  utters :  "How  can  I  give  thee 
up,  my  son  Ephraim,  whom  I  taught  to  walk,  hold- 
ing by  the  arms  ?  How  can  I  surrender  thee,  Israel  ?" 
Witness  from  the  Cross  to  what  extent  My  love  will 
go,  to  what  sacrifice!  If  the  blood  of  Abel  cries 
from  the  ground,  shall  not  the  blood  of  Christ  cry 
from  the  Cross  for  response  to  deathless  love,  and 
can  it  cry  in  vain?  Can  He  fail  to  draw  all  men 
unto  Himself?     With  the  cords  of  a  man  He  ia 


118  CORDS    OF    A    MAN 

drawing  men :  in  tlie  bands  of  love  He  is  binding  the 
world  together. 

The  cords  of  a  man,  how  feeble  they  are,  and 
easily  evaded;  the  bands  of  love,  how  gently  they 
imprison;  a  stroke  can  snap  them.  Yet  the  world 
knows  no  fetters  that  can  grapple  so  tight.  The 
cords  are  steel;  the  bands  are  adamant.  God 
comes  to  us  in  Christ  with  a  more  heart-searching 
appeal  than  even  the  words  of  Hosea  could  describe. 
He  comes  to  us  in  terms  of  what  we  ourselves  are. 
We  have  no  excuse  for  not  knowing  God,  if  He  can 
be  known  through  Jesus ;  and  that  He  can  be  known 
through  Jesus  is  a  fact  of  Christian  experience.  He 
does  not  stand  afar  off,  but  stands  close  beside  us, 
laying  a  human  hand  upon  us,  calling  us  by  a  human 
voice,  very  man  of  very  man,  touching  us  in  the 
place  of  our  affections,  breaking  us  by  His  divine 
sacrifice,  melting  us  by  His  human  compassion, 
claiming  us  for  His  love's  sake,  drawing  us  by  the 
cords  of  a  man,  holding  us  by  the  bands  of  love. 
Who  can  resist  the  appeal  of  His  broken  body  and 
shed  blood  ?    Who  will  not  respond  to  such  entreaty  ? 

Love  I  gave  thee,  with  Myself  to  love, 

And  thou  must  love  Me  who  have  died  for  thee. 


XI 
HEART-DIRECTION 

The  Lord  direct  your  Jiearts  into  the  love  of  God. — 
2  Thessalonians  iii.  5. 

One  of  the  greatest  difficulties  in  every  region  of 
knowledge  is  to  keep  the  due  proportion  between 
the  different  parts.  An  exaggeration  of  one  side 
throws  the  whole  perspectiv.e  of  a  subject  wrong. 
^NTowhere  is  this  so  dangerous  as  in  religion.  One- 
sidedness  not  only  dwarfs  the  full  growth  of  faith, 
but  also  often  leads  to  terrible  excesses  of  life  as  well 
as  of  doctrine.  Lack  of  proportion  is  deadly  in  art : 
it  is  far  more  deadly  in  religion.  We  know  in  ordi- 
nary intercourse  how  a  half-truth  may  be  the  worst 
of  all  lies.  In  religion,  it  may  poison  the  whole 
life  of  a  man  or  a  church. 

In  Thessalonica  some  of  the  converts  laid  hold  of 
one  side  of  St.  Paul's  teaching,  and  exaggerated  it 
into  the  central  place  in  the  Christian  faith.  They 
took  his  teaching  about  being  ready  for  our  Lord's 
coming  to  mean  that  they  should  give  up  their  ordi- 

119 


120  HEART-DIRECTION 

nary  occupations  and  busy  themselves  with  specula- 
tions as  to  when  and  how  He  was  to  come.  They 
neglected  or  perverted  the  spiritual  application  of 
St.  Paul's  teaching  about  the  Second  Coming.  They 
were  living  in  an  unhealthy  state  of  restlessness  and 
excitement.  We  have  a  hint  of  this  even  in  the 
first  Epistle,  where  the  Apostle  writes :  "Warn  them 
that  are  unruly."  The  word  is  a  military  one,  as  so 
many  of  St.  Paul's  terms  are.  It  referred  to  a  soldier 
who  showed  insubordination,  who  would  not  keep  dis- 
cipline. By  this  word  he  warns  them  against  step- 
ping out  of  the  Church's  ranks,  neglecting  the  com- 
mon Christian  duties,  running  after  excitement. 
When  this  second  letter  was  written,  the  errors 
seemed  to  have  increased.  Fanaticism,  ever  the 
foe  of  faith,  menaced  them.  Sensational  teachers 
arose,  creating  a  great  commotion,  telling  them  of 
the  near  approach  of  Christ  and  the  end  of  the  world. 
The  unsettling  of  their  minds  produced  disorders  of 
life.  Some  gave  up  their  ordinary  employment, 
really  making  it,  as  St.  Paul  points  out,  a  plea  for 
idleness.  He  brands  them  as  "busybodies."  This 
sort  of  life  made  them  vain  and  meddlesome,  and 
was  an  end  of  all  true  service.  They  thought  they 
were  very  religious  by  indulging  their  heated  visions 
of  the  Coming  of  Christ.    St.  Paul  shows  them  that 


HEART-DIRECTION  121 

on  the  contrary  religion  consists  in  the  quiet  and 
humble  following  of  duty.  "Study  to  be  quiet,  and 
to  do  your  own  business,  and  to  work  with  your  own 
hands."  The  only  cure  for  fanaticism  is  faith,  which 
falls  back  on  God,  and  gTows  calm  there,  sweetly 
resting  on  His  love.  St.  Paul's  counsel  to  the  Thes- 
salonians  is  that  they  should  go  on  patiently  with 
the  tasks  of  life,  serving  their  Master  humbly,  leav- 
ing the  future  in  His  hands,  with  hearts  directed  into 
the  love  of  God,  and  the  patience  of  Christ.  This 
is  St.  Paul's  prayer  on  their  behalf,  a  prayer  that 
they  may  get  back  to  the  centre  from  which  all 
Christian  faith  and  life  proceed,  God's  love.  The 
remedy  for  the  disorders  of  life  and  for  the  unsettled 
speculations  about  the  future  which  afflicted  the 
Church  at  Thessalonica,  is  to  have  their  hearts 
directed  into  love  and  patience. 

The  deepest  human  need  is  heart-guidance,  the 
direction  of  the  desires  and  affections.  There  is  our 
true  life.  The  body  may  be  held  in  control ;  the  mind 
be  cultivated  into  all  graceful  compliances ;  but  if 
the  heart  be  unsanctificd,  undirected,  or  misdirected, 
all  education  and  all  discipline  have  only  been  like 
dealing  with  the  outside  of  the  cup  and  platter.  The 
heart  is  the  seat  of  all  good  and  evil.  "Out  of  it 
are  the  issues  of  life."    Till  the  heart  is  touched    in 


122  HEART-DIIRECTION 

a  man,  nothing  is  done:  we  are  only  scratching  the 
surface.  What  a  man  loves  is  the  test  of  him;  not 
what  he  says,  or  thinks,  or  does.  That  is  why  there 
is  no  religion,  to  be  called  religion,  except  heart- 
religion.  That  is  why  the  Bible  seeks  by  every 
avenue  of  approach  to  come  to  close  quarters  with 
the  heart.  That  is  why  prophets,  and  psalmists,  and 
saints,  and  apostles,  and  our  Lord  Himself  make 
this  their  one  theme.  Religion  would  make  easy 
conquests,  if  it  had  not  to  capture  this  mysterious 
and  elusive  citadel.  All  else  can  be  brought  into 
subjection,  while  the  heart  is  still  a  rebel.  All  work 
has  to  be  done  over  again,  so  long  as  the  heart  is 
untamed.  Leviathan  may  be  drawn  out  with  a  hook, 
his  tongue  pressed  dovra.  with  a  cord,  a  rope  put  into 
his  nose,  his  jaw  pierced  through  with  a  spike ;  all 
the  diverse  activities  of  man  can  be  restrained  and 
regulated;  even  the  tongue,  that  unruly  evil,  can  be 
subdued  to  some  semblance  of  decency ;  but  who  can 
tame  and  bridle  the  high  heart  of  man?  What  can 
guard  and  direct  the  issues  of  life  ? 

Yet,  till  it  is  held  and  guided,  nothing  is  achieved. 
For,  sooner  or  later  all  the  territory  gained  and 
held  at  so  great  a  cost  will  be  regained.  The 
life  must  follow  the  fortunes  of  the  heart.  Where 
the  heart  turns,  the  feet  will  wend.     What  the  heart 


HEART-DIRECTION  123 

loves,  the  fingers  will  grasp.  Who  is  the  master  of 
this  proud  tyrant?  That  it  needs  a  master  to  direct 
and  control,  is  the  lesson  of  history  and  life.  It  can- 
not be  left  to  its  own  wayward  and  despotic  will. 
Hear  our  Lord's  impeachment  of  the  unregulated 
heart:  "From  within,  out  of  the  heart  of  men,  pro- 
ceed evil  thoughts,  adulteries,  fornications,  murders, 
thefts,  covetousness,  wickedness,  deceit,  lascivious- 
ness,  an  evil  eye,  blasphemy,  pride,  foolishness:  all 
these  evil  things  come  from  within  and  defile  the 
man."  And  apart  from  these  fruits  of  unbridled 
passion,  apart  from  the  plain  case  made  out  from 
them  for  the  restraint  of  the  heart ;  even  if  no  such 
loathly  things  ever  emerged;  the  heart  would  still 
need  guidance  to  keep  it  from  wasting  its  unrivalled 
powers  on  vanity.  Life  is  difficult  for  all ;  the  path 
is  beset  with  dangers,  perplexities,  and  trials,  and 
temptations ;  the  heart  directs  the  tottering,  stumbling 
feet  through  it  all ;  but  who  is  to  direct  the  heart  ? 

If  what  the  heart  loves  settles  the  destiny,  every 
man  who  desires  self-knowledge  can  have  it  by  asking 
the  question  as  to  what  the  object  of  the  love  is. 
Love  of  some  sort,  or  what  corresponds  to  the  word, 
there  is,  and  must  be.  The  human  heart  hungers  for 
love ;  the  human  heart  was  made  to  love.  The  capac- 
ity for  loving  is  the  deepest  note  in  life.     It  is  the 


124  HEART-DIRECTION 

essential  distinction  of  man,  that  which  makes  him 
man.  But  to  what  is  it  directed  ?  That  is  the  ques- 
tion of  questions.  How  men  miss  the  way!  What 
misdirected  affection!  What  futile,  pathetic  at- 
tempts for  the  satisfaction  of  the  heart!  By  what 
mean  motives  it  often  moves,  to  what  small  ends  it 
is  directed!  Hungry  hearts  lavish  their  wealth  on 
that  which  profiteth  naught.  Thirsty  lips  in  the 
fever  of  desire  seek  the  elixir  of  life  from  broken 
cisterns  that  can  hold  no  water.  The  object  of  the 
heart's  affection  must  be  adequate,  if  it  is  to  satisfy. 
Only  that  heart  is  safe  which  loves  God.  Nothing 
else  can  direct  and  steady  and  regulate  the  heart 
of  man,  curb  its  waywardness,  hold  its  passions  in 
check,  and  satisfy  its  deepest  affections.  Only  that 
can  save  a  man  from  the  pitfalls  of  the  way,  and 
bring  him  through  fire  and  water  to  a  rich  place. 
Only  that  can  direct  him  past  all  dangers  and  tempta- 
tions, through  the  heat  and  burden  of  the  day  and 
the  darkening  shades  of  eventime,  and  lead  him  out 
to  peace  under  the  silent  stars.  We  know  the  power 
of  a  great  affection  to  preserve  and  restrain  and 
guide.  We  know  how  even  a  pure  earthly  love  will 
save  a  man  from  gross  evils.  How  much  more  this 
love,  which  fills  the  whole  being,  and  lifts  the  life 
to  the  highest!     The  man  whose  heart  is  fixed  on 


HEART-DIRECTION  125 

God  has  a  moral  preservative.  He  cannot  be  per- 
manently seduced  by  the  lower  loves  of  earth.  He 
has  seen  the  vision,  and  has  no  eyes  for  baser  attrac- 
tions. If  there  is  a  limit  above  which  it  seems  as  if 
he  cannot  rise,  a  limit  set  to  his  passion  for  God  by 
the  limitations  of  human  nature,  if  he  feels  that 
weak  flesh  cannot  stand  before  the  full  apocalypse  of 
soul — there  is  also  a  limit  below  which  he  cannot 
fall.  He  is  held  by  his  love  to  God,  and  saved  from 
complete  moral  collapse.  It  stands  to  reason  that  if 
a  man  truly  loves  God,  if  his  heart  is  ever  being 
directed  into  that  high  love,  there  is  safety  for  him 
all  along  the  line.  Where  the  treasure  is,  there  will 
the  heart  be  also ;  where  the  heart  is,  thither  will  the 
life  move. 

St.  Paul's  prayer,  that  the  hearts  of  the  Thessa- 
lonians  may  be  directed  into  the  love  of  God,  means 
love  for  God.  He  assures  them  that  if  they  love  God 
with  all  their  heart,  the  way  will  be  made  plain  to 
them;  they  will  school  themselves  into  duty,  they 
will  hush  themselves  into  peace.  But  we  cannot  love 
at  will.  We  cannot  be  argued  into  loving — we  can- 
not argue  ourselves  into  loving.  We  cannot  love  be- 
cause it  would  be  a  good  thing  for  us,  nor  even 
because  we  are  persuaded  we  ought ;  but  only  because 
we  must.     So  the  other  meaning  of  the  phrase,  "the 


126  HEART^DIRECTION 

love  of  God/'  is  always  included  in  it,  God's  love 
for  us;  because  that  after  all  is  the  foundation  and 
the  motive  of  our  love  to  Him.  We  love  because  He 
first  loved  us.  Before  we  can  love  God,  we  need  to 
have  our  hearts  directed  into  the  assurance  that  God 
loves  us.  Our  love  can  only  be  the  response  to  the 
divine  appeal.  If,  then,  heart-guidance  is  such  a 
clamant  need,  if  a  masterless  man  is  but  a  waif  in 
the  trackless  wilderness  of  life,  if  the  love  of  God 
is  our  very  life,  if  above  all  other  direction  we  need 
to  be  directed  into  that,  who  is  fit  guide  for  such  a 
high  task?  Where  is  he  that  we  might  seek  him, 
and  find  him  ? 

It  is  Christ  who  so  directs  the  heart  into  the  love 
of  God.  He  is  the  Master  of  the  human  heart. 
That  He  does  so  direct  men,  we  know  by  experience, 
or  can  know.  He  is  our  Mediator,  our  Guide  to 
God.  Through  Him  we  know  what  the  Father  is. 
By  Him  we  have  access  to  the  Father.  He  directs 
our  blundering  steps,  and  leads  us,  if  we  will  submit 
to  His  guidance,  straight  into  the  heart  of  God.  We 
need  not  ask  now  how  He  does  it,  by  what  strange 
magic  He  masters  men,  and  brings  them  to  God; 
but  we  are  assured  of  the  fact.  That  He  does  it, 
there  is  the  testimony  of  the  centuries,  the  witness 
of  the  saints,  the  argument  of  our  own.  experience. 


HEART-DIRECTION  127 

Apart  from  Him  we  would  be  without  God  and  with- 
out hope  in  the  world. 

Christ  directs  us  into  loving  God,  because  He 
is  the  certitude  that  God  loves  us.  He  is  our  surety, 
the  promise  of  the  Father's  eternal  love,  the  pledge 
of  it,  Immanuel,  God  with  us,  and  God  for  us,  and 
so  we  for  God.  In  this  holy  sacrament  the  Lord  is 
directing  us  into  the  love  of  God.  This  is  the  sub- 
ject set  forth  and  illustrated.  It  is  not  our  love 
which  gives  us  the  right  to  be  here,  it  is  our  f aith^  in 
His  love.  True,  here  at  the  Table  our  hearts  are 
touched  with  something  of  the  passion  of  love :  they 
burn  within  us  with  desire  and  longing.  But  our 
warrant  for  Communion  is  not  in  ourselves,  but  in 
Him.  It  is  on  this  we  stay.  Our  own  love  is  feeble 
and  fitful,  no  sure  stand  for  us  at  any  time.  We 
cannot  trust  our  own  feelings:  they  are  fickle  with 
the  fickleness  of  our  own  weak  hearts.  We  take 
courage  not  from  any  thought  of  our  love  or  faith  or 
goodness,  but  from  the  thought  presented  to  us  with 
such  dramatic  force  in  this  Sacrament,  the  thought 
of  His  boundless,  eternal  love.  We  build  on  that. 
We  comfort  our  souls  by  that.  We  get  fresh  inspi- 
ration from  that  unfailing  source.  It  is  His  love 
spreads  the  Table.  Here  the  Gospel  is  set  forth 
in  miniature;  preached  in  action,  not  words;  pre- 


128  HEART-DIRECTION 

sented  to  us  as  a  mighty  object-lesson.  Here  we 
learn  that  God  is  love.  Here  we  tell  ourselves  that 
the  Father  loves  us.  Here  we  see  the  proofs  of  that 
love,  Christ's  life  and  death,  Christ's  Cross  and 
Passion.  The  simple  symbols  of  Communion  point 
us,  direct  us  to  the  love  of  God. 

And  the  response  to  the  dumb  appeal  of  the 
broken  bread  and  wine  poured  out  is  surely  love  on 
our  part.  Surely  the  love  of  Christ  constraineth  us. 
Deep  calls  to  deep ;  height  answers  height ;  such 
love  calls  forth  love,  the  free  surrender  of  ourselves, 
the  adoring  worship  of  our  souls,  the  free  outgoing  of 
our  hearts  to  God.  Here  we  have  heart-guidance,  a 
stable  point  round  which  the  life  can  swing  securely, 
a  centre  of  motion  and  of  rest.  Here  we  have  direc- 
tion, the  control  of  love,  the  impulsive  power,  as  well 
as  the  expulsive,  of  a  great  affection.  As  we  take 
in  our  hands  these  sensible  signs,  may  the  Lord 
Christ  direct  our  hearts  into  the  love  of  God.  That 
is  the  heart  of  the  Sacrament. 


XII 

THE  PATIENCE  OF  CHRIST 

The  Lord  direct  yoxir  hearts  into  the  'patience  of  Christ. — 
2  Thkssalonians  iii.  5. 

St.  Paul's  prescription  to  abate  the  fever  of  mind 
in  the  Thessalonian  Church  concerning  the  Second 
Coming  of  Christ,  is  that  their  hearts  should  be 
directed  into  the  love  of  God,  and  into  the  patience 
of  Christ.  Such  love  and  such  patience  would  calm 
them  and  steady  them,  and  make  them  ashamed  of 
their  uncontrolled  excitement  and  their  neglect  of 
duty.  They  thought  that  Christ  was  about  to  come, 
and  so  they  imagined  they  did  not  need  to  continue 
at  their  ordinary  tasks,  and  debauched  themselves 
with  religious  speculations.  But  if  their  hearts  were 
directed  into  the  deepest  things  in  religion,  the  effect 
would  be  precisely  the  opposite.  They  would  under- 
stand the  discipline  of  work,  the  purpose  of  proba- 
tion. If  their  hearts  were  directed  into  the  love  of 
God,  they  would  not  get  wild  with  excitement,  even 
if  the  end  of  the  world  were  at  hand.    If  they  were 

129 


130    THE    PATIENCE    OF    CHRIST 

following  the  patience  of  Christ,  it  would  not  matter 
how  long  delayed  His  Coming  was.  The  Apostle 
points  them  to  a  spiritual  preparation  for  the  Advent 
about  which  they  are  so  concerned.  With  the  love 
of  God  they  will  not  fear  the  future.  With  the 
patience  of  Christ  they  will  not  neglect  the  present. 

We  saw  how  Christ,  the  Son,  directs  men  into  the 
Father's  love,  and  what  a  power  over  the  life  such 
heart-guidance  is.  We  will  consider  now  specially 
the  last  section  of  the  prayer,  that  their  hearts  may 
be  directed  into  the  patience  of  Christ.  How  appro- 
priate this  wish  was  at  the  time  and  for  the  par- 
ticular dangers  which  menaced  the  Church!  They 
had  lost  their  balance  by  the  mere  thought  that  Christ 
was  soon  to  come.  The  temptation  would  then 
emerge  to  say  with  the  sceptic,  "Where  is  the 
promise  of  His  coming  ?"  St.  Paul,  as  the  answer  to 
both  these  extremes,  points  them  to  the  example  of 
the  Master  Himself.  If  their  hearts  are  directed 
into  the  patience  of  Christ,  they  will  grow  quiet, 
and  only  ask  for  a  place  to  serve  their  Master 
humbly. 

The  Greek  word,  like  the  English  equivalent, 
"patience,"  means  more  than  what  we  usually  ex- 
press by  it,  waiting,  lasting  out  for  a  long  time.  It 
suggests  actual  suffering,  bearing  up  under  a  burden, 


THE    PATIENCE    OF    CHRIST    131 

enduring  against  trials  and  difficulties.  We  usually 
think  of  it  as  a  passive  virtue,  resignation,  calm 
waiting  for  something  to  happen,  as  in  Shakespeare's 
classic  lines : 

Sat  like  patience  on  a  monument. 
Smiling  at  grief. 

But  the  word  has  an  active  side,  even  in  our  com- 
mon speech,  as  in  the  phrase,  a  patient  investigator, 
implying  untiring  industry.  It  carries  with  it  the 
idea  of  fortitude  and  high  courage,  willing  to  suffer, 
to  endure,  working  out  great  ends  undiscouraged, 
without  repining  or  fretfulness.  Both  the  passive 
and  the  active  sides  of  patience  are  seen  in  the 
life  and  work  of  our  Lord.  And  St.  Paul  points 
to  the  completed  character  and  example  of  Christ 
as  the  remedy  for  the  fevered  speculations  and 
for  the  disorders  of  conduct,  which  were  appear- 
ing in  the  Thessalonian  Church, 

The  patience  of  Christ — what  a  theme  for  a  ser- 
mon !  It  would  mean  the  whole  life  of  the  Saviour 
from  His  boyhood  to  Calvary.  We  speak  of  the 
Passion  of  Jesus,  and  it  is  the  same  word  from  the 
same  root  as  patience,  and  we  limit  it  to  those  hours 
from  the  Last  Supper  till  the  end,  the  agony  in 
the  Garden,  and  the  sufferings  on  the  Cross.     But 


132    THE    PATIENCE    OF    CHRIST 

the  Passion  of  Jesus,  or  the  patience  of  Christ,  was  of 
longer  period  than  that.  What  was  His  whole  life 
but  one  record  of  patience?  Prom  the  time  when 
the  first  consciousness  came  to  Him  that  He  must  be 
about  His  Father's  business.  He  was  schooling  His 
heart  into  patience.  It  is  the  word  which  best  de- 
scribes His  character,  His  humility,  His  self-abnega- 
tion, His  submission  to  God,  His  composure  of  mind. 
His  calm  and  resolute  faith.  It  is  the  word  also 
which  best  describes  His  whole  ministry.  Every 
step  He  took,  every  deed  of  mercy,  every  humiliation 
were  illustrations  of  this  quality  of  soul.  One  of 
the  Evangelists  sums  up  His  work  in  the  sentence: 
"He  went  about  doing  good."  He  took  no  short- 
cuts to  His  ends.  He  was  working  in  the  subtle 
media  of  human  souls,  and  knew  that  the  gains  of 
character,  the  ripening  of  faith,  the  fruits  of  the 
spirit,  could  only  come  slowly.  He  sowed  for  an 
eternal  harvest.  His  work  was  for  the  world.  He 
came  to  save  the  world ;  and  yet  for  the  world's  sake 
He  rejected  all  easy  and  quick  methods  with  their 
appearance  of  specious  success.  Though  the  world  was 
His  objective, — nay,  because  it  was, — He  gave  all 
His  time  to  the  training  of  a  few  men.  What  a  lesson 
to  the  fevered  Thessalonian  Church,  to  have  their 
hearts  directed  to  the  patience  of  Christ. 


THE    PATIENCE    OF    CHRIST    135 

How  patient  He  was  even  in  the  little  circle  of 
work  to  which  He  limited  Himself,  going  over  the 
same  lesson  again  and  again  with  His  slow  disciples, 
unweariedly  preparing  that  morsel  of  soil  for  the 
precious  seed.  Oh,  ambitious  souls  that  pant  for 
large  fields,  that  think  your  talents  are  wasted  on 
your  limited  sphere,  remember  how  limited  the 
Master's  ministry  was.  Is  the  servant  greater  than 
his  Lord  ? 

If  here  at  this  Table  of  the  Lord  our  hearts  are 
directed  into  the  patience  of  Christ,  will  we  not  go 
back  to  our  daily  duties,  to  the  burden  and  heat  of 
the  day,  to  the  trials  of  our  lot  whatever  they  are, 
with  a  new  resolution,  with  fresh  courage,  with  re- 
newed faith,  with  a  consuming  desire  to  do  the  will 
of  God  in  the  place  where  we  are?  What  can  we 
think  of  at  such  a  time  as  this  more  worthy  of  our 
attention  than  this  crowning  quality  of  our  Lord's 
life  and  work?  If  but  our  hearts  are  directed 
into  this,  we  will  rise  from  His  Table  with  a  keener 
zest  for  service,  a  sincerer  longing  to  be  like  Him 
whom  our  soul  loves. 

Take  the  deeper  note  of  meaning  in  the  word  than 
even  this  wonderful  humility  and  patient  working, 
the  note  of  suffering  which  the  word  carries.  The 
Passion  of  Jesus,  the  patience  of  Christ.     May  we 


134    THE    PATIENCE    OF    CHRIST 

not  ourselves  pray  that  our  hearts  be  directed  inttf 
tliis,  as  we  look  upon  the  tokens  of  body  broken  and 
blood  shed?  Who  can  fathom  what  the  patience 
of  Christ  was?  "We  only  know  that  it  was  there 
from  the  beginning.  The  via  dolorosa  was  only 
typical  of  His  whole  walk  through  life,  and  not 
merely  the  tragic  road  from  the  Judgment  Hall  to 
the  Cross.  What  buffetings  of  soul  harder  than  the 
buffetings  on  the  cheek  by  the  brutal  soldiery! 
What  sorrow  of  heart  for  sin,  and  anguish  of  pity 
for  sinners,  keener  than  nails  in  palms  and  feet ! 
He  endured  the  contradictions  of  sinners  against 
Himself.  He  who  knew  no  sin  was  made  sin.  He, 
the  Captain  of  our  salvation,  was  made  perfect 
through  suffering.  Can  we  think  of  it  all,  can  we  take 
in  our  hands  the  symbols  of  the  last  great  sacrifice, 
without  at  the  same  time  our  hearts  being  directed 
into  the  everlasting  love  of  God  ? 

But  that  love  will  mean  nothing  to  us,  and  our 
love  which  we  feel  quickened  at  this  festival  will  be 
only  a  fleeting  sentiment,  unless  our  hearts  are  also 
fired  with  the  longing  and  the  resolve  to  be  like  Him, 
to  have  His  mind  in  us,  unless  our  hearts  are  directed 
into  the  selfsame  patience  of  Christ.  This  prayer 
which  St.  Paul  made  for  the  Thessalonians,  and  which 
we  now  pray  for  ourselves  and  for  each  other,  brings 


THE    PATIENCE    OF    CHRIST    135 

before  us  the  thought  that  our  faith  must  be  a  life. 
It  must  be  the  Imitation  of  Jesus.  We  do  not  truly 
believe,  till  this  is  accepted  and  acted  on  by  us. 
The  patience  which  Christ  showed  is  to  be  re-enacted 
by  us.  His  humble  meek  temper,  His  sweet  sub- 
missiveness  to  God,  His  calm  unruffled  faith.  His 
steadfast  adherence  to  duty.  His  tireless  persever- 
ance in  good,  must  all  be  absorbed  by  us  and  dis- 
played in  our  lives.  We  must  so  drink  in  His  spirit, 
that  His  spirit  shall  blossom  out  in  us  and  bear  the 
same  fruit  as  in  Him.  We  must  so  become  His, 
that  He  shall  be  formed  anew  in  us.  We  must  so 
feed  upon  Him,  that  we  shall  change  from  our  old 
selves  and  be  transformed  into  His  likeness,  till 
it  is  no  longer  we,  but  Christ. 

Is  this  meaningless  mysticism?  ^ay,  it  is  the 
great  Christian  ideal,  and  the  Christian  task.  So, 
this  day,  when  we  think  of  the  patience  of  Christ, 
when  we  celebrate  the  Passion  of  Jesus,  let  us  conse- 
crate ourselves  to  Him,  and  as  He  has  made  Himself 
ours  in  privilege,  may  we  make  ourselves  His  in 
practice.  Let  us  not  expend  the  spectacle  before  us 
of  the  Passion  of  Jesus  in  maudlin  sentiment.  Let 
us  pray  that  it  may  rather  inspire  us  to  the  Imitation 
of  Jesus.  May  His  patience  so  possess  us  that  every 
trial   or   temptation   or   untoward   circumstance   or 


136    THE    PATIENCE    OF    CHRIST 

sorrow  will  be  only  a  call  to  us  to  exercise  the  same 
work  of  faith,  and  labour  of  love,  and  patience  of 
hope.  Give  the  world  joy,  if  the  world  wants  that 
and  thinks  there  can  be  nothing  better ;  but  we  know 
otherwise ;  we  have  not  so  learned  Christ  here  at  the 
festival  of  His  Passion ;  "^'Give  the  world  joy,  O  Lord, 
but  patience  to  the  saints."  May  the  Lord  direct 
your  hearts  into  the  patience  of  Christ. 


XIII 

SELF-EXAMINATION:  AN  EXERCISE 
BEFORE  COMMUNION 

But  let  a  man  examine  himself,  and  so  let  Mm  eat  of  that  bread 
and  drink  of  tMt  cup. — 1  Corinthians  xi.  28. 

Some  flagrant  abuses  of  the  Lord's  Supper  grew  up 
at  Corinth,  and  St.  Paul,  after  showing  that  such 
evils  could  only  be  prevented  by  a  truer  reverence  for 
the  occasion  and  a  truer  love  of  the  brethren,  states 
in  simple  and  beautiful  language  what  the  Church 
accepts  as  the  classical  words  of  Institution  for  the 
Sacrament.  He  shows  how  this  form  of  celebration 
had  arisen,  how  naturally  Jesus  had  chosen  bread 
and  wine  as  symbols  of  Himself,  and  that  the  first 
and  chief  use  of  the  Sacrament  was  to  be  a  memorial 
of  Him.  His  disciples  were  to  remember  Him  as  oft 
as  they  did  it.  The  Corinthians  had  been  doing  this 
unworthily — so  unworthily  that  we  could  hardly 
credit  that  such  an  abuse  could  creep  in  among 
Christian  folk.  We  can  easily  credit  it,  however,  when 
we  remember  that  when  the  heart  goes  out  of  a  reli- 
gious form,  corruption  is  inevitable. 

137 


138  SELF-EXAMINATION 

We  are  not  concerned  just  now  about  the  special 
unworthiness  of  the  Corinthians,  It  consisted  of  an 
abuse  of  the  love-feast,  which  in  the  early  Church 
used  to  precede  the  Sacrament.  This  social  meal 
sometimes  became  a  scene  of  greed  and  selfishness, 
at  which  some  paid  no  heed  to  the  wants  of  their 
poorer  brethren;  and  sometimes  even  it  became  a 
scene  of  excess  and  license.  That  kind  of  unworthi- 
ness is  no  longer  a  temptation  to  us,  for  the  simple 
reason  that  the  Church  does  not  now  have  a  social 
meal  joined  to  the  celebration  of  the  Sacrament. 
But  St.  Paul,  in  his  statement  of  the  Lord's  Supper, 
lifts  it  out  of  the  particular  into  the  general,  so  that 
it  applies  not  merely  to  the  special  case  of  the 
Corinthians,  but  to  all  who  meet  to  remember  Jesus 
at  His  Table.  He  gathers  up  all  the  directions  he 
had  previously  given,  into  one  general  rule:  "Let  a 
man  examine  himself  and  so  let  him  eat."  If  the 
Corinthians  had  really  done  this  they  would  never 
have  committed  the  serious  abuses  which  had  dese- 
crated the  ordinance.  It  is  a  demand  for  more 
thought,  more  serious  consideration  of  what  they  are 
doing. 

It  applies  to  us  as  forcibly  as  to  the  Church  of 
Corinth.  Eor  one  thing  the  Sacrament  gives  us  an 
occasion  for  a  public  profession  of  faith,  and  that 


SELF-EXAMINATION  139 

is  not  to  be  done  lightly.  For  the  sake  of  the  Church, 
and  for  the  sake  of  the  world  outside  the  Church, 
and  most  of  all  for  the  sake  of  the  name  and  cause 
of  Christ,  we  must  not  take  on  ourselves  obligations 
that  we  cannot  fulfil.  For  our  own  sake  also,  for 
the  sake  of  our  own  spiritual  life,  we  must  not 
lightly  and  carelessly  partake  of  the  mystery ;  for  we 
would  be  only  blunting  our  soul  and  taking  the  edge 
off  all  spiritual  susceptibility.  Because  the  Corin- 
thians had  not  examined  themselves,  had  not  really 
considered  the  sacredness  of  the  act,  and  the  true 
meaning  of  the  Sacrament,  their  religion  had  lost 
hold  of  their  life,  and  sins  had  become  common 
among  them  that  could  not  have  been  had  they  ex- 
amined themselves. 

I^ow  the  chief  thing  is  that  we  should  examine 
ourselves,  should  be  prepared  to  receive  the  blessing 
of  Communion.  There  is  no  emphasis  laid  on  any 
particular  method  of  examination.  You  will  notice 
that  St.  Paul  does  not  give  any  particular  directions, 
does  not  draw  up  a  practical  scheme  of  preparation  at 
all.  Any  such  rules  would  become  formal,  and 
might  be  a  burden  to  the  over-sensitive,  scrupulous 
soul,  and  would  only  soothe  the  soul  of  the  mere 
formalist  into  duller  and  smugger  self-satisfaction. 
The  truth  is  that  there  are  no  formal  rules  which 


140  SELF-EXAMINATION 

are  of  universal  applicability.  The  things  which  are 
demanded  are  sincerity  and  seriousness.  It  has  to 
be  remembered,  too,  that  self-examination  has  some 
dangers,  such  as  a  morbid  introspection  which  is  ever 
anxiously  considering  symptoms  of  self,  and  which 
deprives  us  of  simple  faith  and  humble  service. 
Religion  can  have  too  much  of  what  Shelley  calls 
"the  dark  idolatry  of  self,"  which  by  idle  self- 
reproach  and  brooding  on  the  past  can  destroy  not 
only  present  peace  and  joy,  but  also  all  right  action 
towards  amendment  and  obedience.  I  do  not  suppose 
there  is  any  book  so  caustic  and  so  searching  in  its 
dissection  of  the  human  heart  as  Jonathan  Edwards' 
Treatise  Concerning  Religious  Affectio7is,  and  in  the 
Introductory  remarks  of  the  Third  Part  he  has  these 
wise  and  sane  words :  "Although  self-examination  be 
a  duty  of  great  use  and  importance  and  by  no  means 
to  be  neglected ;  yet  it  is  not  the  principal  means  by 
which  the  saints  do  get  satisfaction  of  their  good 
estate.  Assurance  is  not  to  be  obtained  so  much  by 
self-examination  as  by  action.  The  Apostle  Paul 
sought  assurance  chiefly  this  way,  even  by  forgetting 
the  things  that  were  behind  and  reaching  forth  to 
those  things  that  were  before,  pressing  towards  the 
mark  for  the  prize  of  the  high  calling  of  God  in 
Christ  Jesus.     He  obtained   assurance  of  winning 


SELF-EXAMINATION  141 

the  prize  more  by  running  than  by  considering." 
How  true  this  is  we  all  surely  know  from  our  own 
experience.  Many  of  our  doubts  and  difficulties  dis- 
appear not  by  continual  brooding  on  them,  but  by 
practical  life,  by  forgetting  ourselves,  by  the  active 
ministry  and  service  of  God. 

At  the  same  time  we  are  missing  an  opportunity 
for  the  deepening  of  our  faith  and  the  strengthening 
of  our  life  in  all  good,  if  we  do  not  use  this  occasion 
for  true  self-scrutiny.  If  we  remember  that  no 
methods  are  prescribed  and  sacred,  we  will  avoid 
all  the  dangers,  and  will  receive  the  undoubted  bless- 
ing that  comes  to  all  earnest  endeavour  after  self- 
examination.  We  are  not  told  what  to  read,  how  to 
pray,  how  long  to  seek  solitude,  and  such  other  things 
that  relate  to  method,  but  we  need  only  think  a  mo- 
ment to  be  sure  that  these  things  themselves  ought  to 
have  some  special  place  in  our  life  some  time,  and 
when  more  suitable  than  now  as  we  look  forward  to 
keeping  the  feast?     "By  all  means,"  says  Herbert: 

By  all  means  use  some  time  to  be  alone! 
Salute  thyself!  See  what  thy  soul  doth  wear. 

It  must  surely  be  all  for  good  to  know  ourselves  a 
little  more  nearly  than  we  usually  are  content  to  do. 
We  live  so  much  on  the  surface  of  life,  and  on  the 
surface  of  religion.     It  would  be  well  for  us  to  look 


142  SELF-EXAMINATION 

into  our  own  hearts,  if  only  that  we  may  be  sure  of 
our  weakness  and  sinfulness  and  our  absolute  need 
of  God's  forgiving  love  and  mercy.  It  would  be  well 
to  see  what  our  soul  doth  wear,  to  see  what  we  trust 
to,  what  we  are  desiring  and  needing  and  hoping  for. 
It  cannot  be  well  to  come  blindly  and  thoughtlessly  to 
join  in  Communion,  as  if  it  were  nothing  much,  as 
if  it  were  a  form  of  little  concern  to  us.  Let  us 
examine  our  motives,  our  conscience,  our  life,  the 
sins  that  have  hindered  us,  that  we  may  be  moved 
to  repentance  and  to  new  obedience.  John  Owen 
says  that  "there  is  no  such  sermon  to  teach  mortifica- 
tion of  sin  as  the  commemoration  of  the  death  of 
Christ."  It  certainly  ought  to  be  so;  for  what  ser- 
mon could  preach  with  such  convincing  power  the 
tragedy  of  human  sin?  What  should  so  pierce  the 
heart,  as  with  a  two-edged  sword,  like  the  very 
spectacle  of  the  Cross?  The  sermon  is  preached 
to  deaf  ears  if  we  come  to  the  commemoration  in  a 
careless  spirit,  unprepared,  taking  it  all  as  a  matter 
of  course.  But  if  we  have  given  time  and  thought 
to  self-reflection,  to  considering  our  state  of  heart 
and  mind,  and  honestly  reviewing  life  and  conduct, 
our  ears  will  be  open  to  hear  and  our  hearts  to  under- 
stand this  and  other  sermons  which  the  actual  com- 
memoration can  preach  to  us. 


SELF-EXAMINATION  143 

The  one  central  thought  which  St.  Paul  gives  us 
in  this  passage  as  the  subject  for  self-examination, 
is  whether  we  are  able  to  discern  the  Lord's  body 
in  the  Sacrament.  He  offered  it  to  the  Corinthians 
as  the  test  for  them,  one  which  would  effectually 
prevent  the  scandals  that  arose  through  their  looking 
upon  it  as  merely  a  common  meal.  If  they  had 
discerned  the  Lord's  body  they  would  not  have  been 
so  profane  as  to  desecrate  the  Sacrament.  They  had 
forgotten  that  the  bread  and  wine  were  meant  to 
remind  them  of  Christ's  death  of  love  for  the  world's 
life.  If  you  discern  the  Lord's  body,  if  your  take 
the  symbols  for  the  spiritual  reality  which  they 
signify,  if  you  are  prepared  to  renew  your  fellowship 
of  faith  and  love,  you  will  eat  and  drink  worthily; 
for  you  will  know  yourselves  to  be  disciples  of  Him 
whose  you  are  and  whom  you  seek  to  serve.  If  in 
your  self-examination  you  see  sin  at  which  you  trem- 
ble, and  feel  how  faithless  has  been  your  life  and 
how  loveless  your  heart,  come  in  penitence  and 
humility  to  have  faith  renewed  at  His  feet  and  the 
fire  rekindled  at  the  altar. 

If  you,  who  come  for  the  first  time  to  pledge  your 
fealty  to  Christ,  are  anxious  because  in  your  self- 
examination  you  have  found  yourself  utterly  un- 
worthy to  sit  there,  that  is  no  reason  why  you  should 


144  SELF-EXAMINATION 

exclude  yourself.  Our  one  plea  is  our  need  and  our 
desire,  not  our  merit  or  our  desert.  The  highest 
height  you  could  reach  would  not  give  you  the  right 
to  be  there.  Jeremy  Taylor  gives  as  the  first  ejacula- 
tion to  be  used  on  Sacrament  day:  "Lord,  if  I  lived 
innocently  I  could  not  have  deserved  to  receive  the 
crumbs  that  fall  from  Thy  Table.  How  great  is  Thy 
mercy  who  hast  feasted  me  with  the  bread  of  virgins, 
with  the  wine  of  angels,  with  manna  from  heaven!" 
!N^ot  because  you  are  worthy,  but  because  He  is 
worthy :  not  your  love,  but  His  love  is  your  warrant. 

If  your  self-examination  makes  you  doubt  not 
merely  of  having  due  preparation  for  the  Sacrament, 
but  of  even  having  a  true  interest  in  Christ  at  all, 
what  then?  The  Westminster  Larger  Catechism 
with  great  wisdom  and  tenderness  states  the  case,  and 
answers  that  one  who  doubts  of  his  interest  in  Christ 
"in  God's  account  hath  it,  if  he  be  duly  affected  with 
the  apprehension  of  the  want  of  it ;  and  unfeignedly 
desires  to  be  found  in  Christ  and  to  depart  from 
iniquity."  If  our  self-examination  reveals  to  us  our 
unworthiness  and  sinfulness,  and  leads  us  thus  to 
commit  ourselves  more  completely  to  Christ,  it  is 
the  best  preparation  possible  for  the  Lord's  Supper. 


XIV 
SELF-JUDGMENT 

And  Nathan  said  unto  David,  Thou  art  the  man.-— 
2  Samuel  xii.  7. 

The  story  here  related  of  l^athan's  interview  witli 
David  moves  us  with  the  pain  and  the  pity  of  it. 
There  is  incomparable  drama  in  the  sudden  turning 
of  the  tables,  not  the  artificial  drama  of  the  stage, 
but  the  terrible  drama  of  life,  unmasking  the  feel- 
ings and  motives  of  the  human  heart,  and  touch- 
ing the  simple  principles  of  justice  that  lie  dormant 
in  human  nature.  A  year  had  passed  since  David's 
sin,  and  he  had  been  able  by  some  of  the  subtleties 
of  self-excuse  to  dismiss  it  from  his  mind;  till  in 
this  graphic  way  the  prophet  wakens  his  sleeping 
conscience,  touching  the  sore  place  till  it  throbs  with 
pain. 

It  was  a  simple  parable  the  prophet  stated,  told 
in  a  direct  way,  without  any  confusion  of  issues,  giv- 
ing a  case  of  flagrant  selfishness,  appealing  to  the 

145 


146  SELF-JUDGMENT 

innate  sense  of  justice  in  the  liiiman  heart.  The 
verdict  of  the  king,  when  he  heard  the  case,  was 
instant,  spontaneous.  It  would  be  the  verdict  of  any 
man  whose  conscience  was  not  utterly  depraved.  As 
each  detail  of  the  poor  man  and  his  one  cherished 
ewe  lamb  is  added,  the  impression  of  appalling  heart- 
lessness  is  made  on  us.  The  king's  instant  judgment 
is  the  instinctive  demand  for  justice  of  the  high 
heart  of  man.  The  pitiful  meanness  of  the  rich  man's 
act  seems  an  insult  to  human  nature.  And  when  the 
crushing  retort  strikes  the  king  down  with  lightning 
stroke,  we  feel  that  no  invective,  no  bitter  words 
of  condemnation,  could  reach  home  to  the  conscience 
as  this  keen  thrust  did.  David's  sudden  fall  from 
the  glow  of  righteous  indignation  against  the  mean 
selfishness  of  the  rich  man  of  the  parable,  to  the  cold 
depths  of  swift  self-condemnation,  as  the  words  beat 
back  on  him,  "Thou  art  the  man" — the  story  almost 
melts  us  to  compassion.  The  mingled  grandeur  and 
abasement  of  the  scene  live  for  ever  in  the  simple 
words.  Our  first  feelings  are  admiration  of  the  calm 
courage  of  the  prophet  as  he  beards  the  king  in  his 
palace ;  and  pity  of  the  broken  man,  humbled  in  the 
dust,  and  judged  out  of  his  own  mouth.  It  is  not 
the  story  of  David's  sin,  and  its  punishment,  with 
his  bitter  repentance,  and  ultimate  forgiveness,  which 


SELF- JUDGMENT  147 

I  desire  to  deal  with  now,  but  the  great  principle 
of  self-judgment  illustrated  in  the  scene. 

The  first  thing  that  strikes  us  is  the  blindness  and 
infatuation  of  the  man  to  have  missed  the  application 
of  the  Parable.  It  seems  an  almost  impossible  state 
of  self-deception,  which  could  let  him  flare  out  in 
indignant  virtue  against  the  supposed  culprit,  and 
never  once  dream  that  the  case  could  apply  to  him- 
self. But  it  is  not  such  an  impossible  thing  as  it 
looks;  nay,  it  is  even  one  of  the  commonest  facts 
of  morals,  and  one  which  we  can  easily  illustrate 
any  day  among  ourselves.  We  nod  assent  to  a  gen- 
eral statement  of  right  and  wrong,  accept  principles, 
even  give  our  unbiassed  judgment  on  concrete  cases 
that  are  mentioned ;  and  yet  never  make  the  personal 
application.  It  was  not  rhetoric  but  a  deep  knowl- 
edge of  the  heart  of  man  which  inspired  St.  Paul's 
great  passage  in  which  he  drove  home  to  the  Jews 
that  they  were  guilty  of  the  same  moral  failure  as 
they  charged  the  Gentiles  with :  "Therefore  thou  art 
inexcusable,  O  man,  whoever  thou  art  that  judgest, 
for  wherein  thou  judgest  another,  thou  condemnest 
thyself;  for  thou  that  judgest  doest  the  same  things. 
Thou  therefore  which  teachest  another,  teachest  thou 
thyself?  Thou  that  preachest  a  man  should  not 
steal,  dost  thou  stealj    Thou  that  sayest  a  man  should 


148  SELF-JUDGMENT 

not  commit  adultery,  dost  tbou  commit  adultery? 
Thou  that  makest  thy  boast  of  the  law,  through 
breaking  the  law  dishonourest  thou  God  ?" 

Again  and  again  is  the  same  scene  enacted  that 
seems  so  strange  in  this  dramatic  story.  You  can 
nearly  always  get  the  correct  judgment  in  the  ab- 
stract from  men  about  any  case  of  right  or  wrong; 
it  is  in  the  application  we  err.  The  fact  that  l^athan 
could  appeal  to  David  as  he  did  and  get  the  right 
response ;  and  the  fact  that  we  assent  to  moral  princi- 
ples as  we  do,  is  only  a  proof  of  divine  light  that  is 
in  us  as  a  broken  light  of  God's  own  perfect  justice. 
Conscience  works  out  correctly  in  an  abstract  case, 
n-hen  there  seems  no  personal  interest.  The  case  is 
put  to  David  as  one  to  be  tried  at  the  bar  of  his 
judgment;  but  as  I^athan  afterwards  shows  he  him- 
self has  enacted  the  same  mean  and  selfish  sin,  in  an 
exaggerated  form,  which  he  condemns  in  another. 
Strange  as  the  contradiction  seems,  it  is  common 
enough.  When  our  passions  and  prejudices  are  not 
concerned,  we  can  judge  dispassionately;  but  in  a 
case  where  we  are  personally  involved,  we  make  the 
worse  appear  the  better  reason.  We  find  means 
to  justify  it  to  ourselves  in  some  fashion,  and  soothe 
our  conscience  to  sleep.  Till  we  come  to  the  bar 
naked,  without  veils  and  excuses  and  palliations,  as 


SELF-JUDGMENT  149 

David  was  tricked  into  doing,  we  never  do  justice 
against  ourselves. 

It  is  always  a  sign  of  lack  of  knowledge  of  our  own 
hearts  when  we  judge  self  leniently  and  judge  others 
censoriously:  like  the  painter  who  was  noted  as  a 
savage  critic  of  other  artists,  when  asked  how  he 
could  ever  pass  any  of  his  own  work  when  he  had 
such  a  keen  critical  standard,  frankly  declared:  "I 
have  only  two  eyes  when  I  look  at  my  own  work,  but 
am  argus-eyed,  have  a  hundred  eyes,  when  I  look  at 
the  work  of  others,"  This  candid  admission  states 
the  case  in  more  things  than  artistic  criticism.  In 
religion  we  are,  if  possible,  more  easily  biassed  by 
personal  considerations.  The  self-deceit  we  are 
speaking  about  would  seem  incredible  but  for  facts 
like  this  case  of  David.  It  is  not  incredible  to  the 
man  who  knows  his  own  heart  and  the  deceitfulness 
of  sin.  David  must  have  previously  deluded  himself, 
or  he  could  not  have  been  so  insensible.  He  must 
have  found  circumstances  which  extenuated  his  sin 
to  his  own  mind,  by  which  he  quieted  his  conscience 
and  turned  the  page  on  his  sin.  We  need  not  enquire 
into  what  these  possible  extenuating  circumstances 
might  be.  We  only  need  to  think  of  the  countless 
ways  by  which  we  impose  on  ourselves  and  take 
the  edge  from  all  self-questioning,  and  justify  our 


150  SELF-JUDGMENT 

selfish  ambition,  or  our  spirit  of  revenge,  or  our 
covetous  act,  or  whatever  be  the  v^eak  spot  in  our 
armour.  We  may  have  suspicions  about  it,  but  our 
method  is  usually  like  David's,  to  try  to  forget,  by 
leaving  it  out  of  account,  by  covering  it  over  as  if  we 
were  done  with  it.  We  have  laid  it  like  an  uneasy 
ghost,  and  turned  the  key  on  it.  But  the  murder  will 
out  some  day.  If  not  now,  the  disclosure  will  be 
made,  and  we  will  at  last  see  ourselves  as  we 
are.  "There  is  nothing  hidden  which  shall  not 
be  revealed,  and  covered  that  shall  not  be  made 
known." 

It  is  well  that  the  disclosure  should  be  now.  We 
have  no  standing  in  the  spiritual  world  till  we  see 
ourselves  as  we  are.  We  cannot  go  on  for  ever  refus- 
ing to  face  up  to  the  facts,  refusing  to  lay  bare  to 
ourselves  what  we  fear  to  be  there :  like  a  spendthrift 
who  will  not  look  into  his  affairs  till  the  crash  comes, 
and  excuses  himself  that  he  did  not  know  he  had  gone 
so  far  into  debt,  and  is  surprised  to  find  his  affairs 
in  such  a  bad  way.  The  excuse  is  not  valid,  because 
the  reason  why  he  did  not  look  into  his  affairs  was 
because  he  knew  that  they  were  not  right,  and 
was  afraid  to  find  out.  So,  in  religion  men  fear  to 
uncover  their  hearts  to  themselves,  because  they  are 
afraid  of  what  they  will  find  there.     Their  judg- 


SELF-JUDGMENT  151 

ment  would  be  David's  judgment  on  the  rich  neigh- 
bour of  the  parable;  but  they  like  David  will  not 
make  the  application.  We  are  all  right  on  the  gen- 
eral principles  of  religion,  but  personal  religion 
begins  exactly  where  we  leave  off. 

Our  great  necessity  is  to  relate  our  particular  case 
to  the  general  law.  It  assenting  to  the  judgment, 
which  ISTathan  meant  to  rouse  in  him  about  the  rich 
man,  David  was  passing  judgment  on  himself  un- 
consciously. Till  the  flash  of  self-revealing  light 
came  in  the  prophet's  "Thou  art  the  man,"  he 
was  blind  to  the  connection  between  his  own  act  and 
the  general  judgment.  It  was  not  that  he  had  hidden 
his  sin,  and  was  hypocritically  trying  to  forget  it. 
It  was  that  his  conscience  was  blunt  about  it.  He 
was  not  aware  of  it ;  the  parable,  closely  though 
it  fitted,  did  not  suggest  his  own  sin  to  him.  He 
was  not  sensitive  about  it.  Up  till  that  time  he  did 
not  feel  the  stain  of  it  and  the  burden.  The  sin  was 
unrepented  of,  because  indeed  it  was  unrecognised. 
This  is  the  stumbling-block  in  the  way  of  all  amend- 
ment, that  sin  is  not  accepted  as  such ;  we  do  not 
recognise  it;  the  word  has  not  come  to  us,  striking 
us  dumb:  "Thou  art  the  man."  We  must  discover, 
and  acknowledge  and  confess  our  sin,  before  forgive- 
ness is  possible — discover  first  of  all.    Self -revelation, 


152  SELF-JUDGMENT 

self-judgment,  self-condemnation,  these  represent  the 
first  task  of  religion. 

Better  this  terrible  exposure  of  David  to  himself, 
"when  the  prophet  tore  the  veil  from  the  figure  he 
had  made  to  stand  at  the  bar,  and  the  king  saw  in 
that  figure  not  some  one  he  did  not  know,  not  another 
at  all,  but  himself — a  thousand  times  better  that  than 
that  he  should  pass  to  the  grave  in  smug  self-satisfac- 
tion! Better  remorse,  and  the  slings  and  arrows 
of  outraged  conscience,  than  the  blindness  of  heart 
which  never  sees  the  truth!  If  we  would  discover 
ourselves,  and  submit  to  self -judgment,  we  must  give 
up  trying  to  shift  the  burden  elsewhere,  which  is 
our  common  expedient.  Till  we  have  done  with 
palliation  and  self-excuse;  till  even  reputation  is 
forgotten;  till  the  simple  confession  breaks  from  our 
heart,  "I  have  sinned" ;  we  are  not  at  the  thresh- 
old of  personal  religion.  Till  we  have  come  to 
grips  with  self,  we  cannot  come  to  terms  with 
God. 

Men  evade  this  sense  of  personal  guilt  by  many 
pretexts,  as  no  doubt  David  did.  We  blame  circum- 
stances, our  untoward  environment,  bad  example,  the 
temptations  of  our  lot,  opportunity  ("O  opportunity, 
thy  guilt  is  great!"  Shakespeare  makes  Tarquin  say 
in  self-excuse,  after  he  had  made  the  opportunity). 


SELF-JUDGMENT  153 

If  we  are  scientifieallj  inclined  we  speak  of  heredity ; 
if  theologically  inclined  we  speak  of  original  sin  and 
the  guilt  of  Adam's  first  transgression.  They  are 
mostly  all  dodges;  all  methods  of  drugging  con- 
science and  confusing  the  issue.  We  cannot  hate 
our  sin  till  we  acknowledge  it.  We  cannot  depart 
from  evil  till  we  have  it  before  us  and  recognise  it, 
and  know  it  to  be  ourselves.  Our  conscience  is  not 
awake  till  the  prophetic  voice  reaches  us  with  passion- 
ate conviction:  The  sin  is  yours;  the  guilt  is  yours; 
thou  art  the  man. 

There  is  a  I^orthern  legend,  told  in  the  proem  of 
one  of  Hall  Caine's  books,  of  a  man  who  thought  he 
was  pursued  by  a  monster.  His  ricks  were  fired, 
his  barns  unroofed,  his  cattle  destroyed,  his  lands 
blasted,  his  first-born  slain.  So  he  lay  in  wait  for  the 
monster  where  it  lived  in  the  chasms  near  his  house, 
and  in  the  darkness  of  night  he  saw  it.  With  a  cry 
he  rushed  upon  it,  and  gripped  it  about  the  waist, 
and  it  turned  upon  him,  and  held  him  by  the  shoulder. 
Long  he  wrestled  with  it,  reeling,  staggering,  falling 
and  rising  again;  but  at  length  a  flood  of  strength 
came  to  him,  and  he  overthrew  it,  and  stood  over 
it,  covering  it,  conquering  it,  with  its  back  against 
his  thigh,  and  his  hand  set  hard  at  its  throat.  Then 
he   drew  his  knife  to  kill  it;   and  the   moon   shot 


154  SELF-JUDGMENT 

through  a  "wrack  of  cloud,  opening  an  alley  of  light 
about  it,  and  he  saw  its  face,  and  lo,  the  face  of  the 
monster  was  his  own. 

We  must  learn  that  (in  the  common  phrase  which 
we  limit  to  special  foolishness)  a  man  is  his  own 
worst  enemy — nay,  that  the  only  enemy  we  have  to 
fear  is  ourself;  and  that  we  must  come  to  close 
quarters  with  self ;  for  it  is  only 

When  the  fight's  begun  within  himself, 
A  man's  worth  something. 

Eigorous  self -judgment  is  the  first  requisite  of 
moral  life,  to  turn  the  light  in  on  self.  Socrates 
made  self-knowledge  the  basis  of  all  knowledge.  A 
deeper  self-knowledge  still  is  the  very  beginning  of 
all  j)ersonal  religion.  Sanctification  is  only  a  name 
till  we  translate  the  general  into  the  particular,  and 
apply  to  ourselves  the  demands  of  the  law.  We  need 
to  cease  to  talk  about  sin  in  the  mass  and  come  to 
details,  and  deal  with  the  specific  sins,  and  unmask 
them.  Many  religious  people  are  worms  of  the  earth, 
with  their  whole  nature  corrupt  in  their  general  con- 
fession, and  very  fine  gentlemen  in  detail — never 
dealing  with  self  in  any  direct  fashion,  never  hear- 
ing once  the  searching  word,  Thou  art  the  man. 
"My  God,  I  mean  myself,"  said  a  saint  in  all  the 


SELF-JUDGMENT  155 

general  confession  of  the  Church  which  is  purposely 
wide  to  include  all ;  but  just  because  it  is  wide,  men 
slip  so  easily  through  the  meshes.  "My  God,  I  mean 
myself,"  though  usually  we  mean  everybody  else 
but  ourself. 

We  have  seen  how  hard  honest  self-judginent  is, 
and  yet  how  essential  it  is.  Essential — it  is  not  only 
first,  but  it  is  also  last.  "For,"  says  St.  Paul,  in  all 
solemnity,  "if  we  would  judge  ourselves^  we  should 
not  be  judged."  If  we  left  the  subject  here,  how- 
ever impressed  we  may  be  with  the  necessity  of  self- 
judgment,  we  may  be  charged  with  still  leaving  the 
subject  in  the  general.  Would  you  then  know 
the  method,  the  infallible  way  of  putting  self  to  the 
proof  ?  The  method  for  us  is  this— bring  yourselves, 
your  work,  motives,  ambitions,  inner  thoughts,  into 
the  presence  of  Christ,  and  judge  them  there.  He 
is  the  Light  in  this  sense  also.  Until  we  make  Christ 
our  conscience,  bringing  everything  to  be  judged  by 
the  Light;  we  will  keep  confusing  the  issues,  and 
disguising  our  sins,  and  finding  all  manner  of  self- 
escape,  excuses,  and  counter-charges.  But  if  we  will 
have  the  same  mind  in  us  that  was  in  Christ,  look- 
ing at  the  world  and  life  and  self  with  His  eyes, 
we  will  see  ourselves  as  we  are ;  and  when  conscience 
says  to  us,   in  unmistakable   tones,   "Thou   art  the 


156  S  E  L  F  -  J  U  D  G  M  E  N  T 

man";  our  one  prayer  will  be  not  self -justification, 
but:  "Search  me,  0  God,  and  know  my  heart;  try 
me,  and  know  my  thoughts;  see  if  there  be  any 
wicked  way  in  me,  and  lead  me  in  the  way  ever- 
lasting." 


XV 

DIVINE  SCRUTINY  AND  GUIDANCE 

Search  me,  0  God,  and  know  my  Jieart :  try  me,  and  know  my 
thoughts :  and  see  if  there  be  any  wicked  loay  in  me,  and  lead  me 
in  tJte  way  everlasting. — Psalm  cxxxix.  33. 

"This  is  the  Psalm  which  I  would  wish  to  have 
before  me  on  my  deathbed,"  said  Erskine  of 
Linlathen — I  suppose  because  it  has  such  an  assur- 
ance of  God's  presence,  such  an  abounding  confidence 
that  man's  little  life  is  not  overlooked  and  cannot  be 
lost  in  the  great  wide  spaces  of  the  universe.  But 
if  the  thoughts  of  this  Psalm  have  no  place  in  our 
life,  it  would  be  anything  but  a  comfortable  com- 
panion for  a  deathbed.  Eor  here  is  the  thought  of 
God  as  closer  than  breathing  and  nearer  than  hands 
and  feet,  with  a  penetrating  eye  to  which  nothing  is 
covered  or  hidden,  sweeping  to  the  bounds  of  space, 
and  searching  into  the  secrets  of  the  soul.  It  is  the 
word  of  God,  quick  and  powerful  and  sharper  than 
any  two-edged  sword,  piercing  even  to  the  dividing 
asunder  of  soul  and  spirit,  and  of  the  joints  and 

157 


158    DIVINE    SCRUTINY    AND    GUIDANCE 

marrow,  and  a  cliscerner  of  the  thoughts  and  intents 
of  the  heart. 

The  Psalmist  sets  forth  in  j)oetry  what  theology 
calls  the  doctrine  of  the  divine  Omniscience.  He 
believes  in  Jehovah,  the  God  of  all  the  earth,  and 
therefore  believes  in  a  Providence  so  universal  that 
it  misses  nothing.  It  is  not  an  intellectual  dogma 
to  him,  but  a  spiritual  intuition.  It  is  not  stated  as 
an  abstraction  of  thought,  but  flows  from  the  warm 
personal  relation  between  God  and  man,  which  is 
the  great  revelation  of  the  Bible.  God's  providence 
is  everywhere,  but  it  does  not  dissipate  itself  in  a 
mere  general  supervision  of  creation.  It  is  all-seeing, 
all-surrounding,  all-embracing,  but  it  is  not  diffused 
in  matter  and  dispersed  through  space.  It  extends — 
and  this  is  the  wonder  of  it — to  the  individual:  "O 
Lord,  Thou  hast  searched  me,  and  known  me." 

The  Psalmist  dwells  on  what  that  means,  how 
there  is  no  limit  to  God's  knowledge  of  him.  It 
comprehends  in  its  sweep  every  activity  of  body  and 
mind,  of  heart  and  soul,  of  character  and  life.  In 
the  sphere  of  action  there  is  nothing  hid:  "Thou 
knowest  my  dowm-sitting  and  mine  uprising."  In 
the  sphere  of  thought  the  quickest  and  subtlest  of 
human  powers:  "Thou  understandest  my  thought 
afar  off."     In  the  sphere  of  motive — motives  which 


DIVINE    SCRUTINY    AND    GUIDANCE     159 

are  always  mysterious,  sometimes  inexplicable,  often 
mixed  to  utter  confusion — the  same  is  true:  "Thou 
compassest  my  path  and  art  acquainted  with  all  my 
ways."  In  the  sphere  of  speech:  "There  is  not  a 
word  on  my  tongue,  but,  lo,  O  Lord,  Thou  knowest 
it  altogether" — not  a  vain  word  or  foolish  or  sinful 
word  but  Thou  knowest  its  true  meaning,  the  thought 
and  intention  which  gave  it  birth,  the  object  to  which 
it  is  directed.  Thou  knowest  it  altogether.  The 
strange  and  awe-inspiring  thought  is  borne  in  on 
him  that  the  God  with  whom  he  has  to  do  has  a  per- 
fect knowledge  of  him,  that  the  whole  life  and  soul 
lie  open  and  naked  before  Him.  ISTo  spot  of  creation 
is  empty  of  God.  Whither  can  he  go  from  God's 
spirit,  or  whither  can  he  flee  from  His  presence  ? 
He  realises  the  grand  truth  that  he  would  need  to 
get  out  of  God's  universe,  to  get  out  of  God's  ken. 
Behind,  before,  within,  without,  man  is  beset  by 
the  knowledge  of  the  Eternal.  "Thou  hast  laid  Thine 
hand  upon  me,"  is  the  Psalmist's  exclamation. 

The  practical  ethical  thought  suggested  by  such 
a  conception  to  the  Psalmist  is  the  question,  how  can 
God,  the  pure  and  holy  One,  with  such  an  intimate 
and  unerring  knowledge,  tolerate  wicked  men  ?  He 
feels  that  God  cannot  but  be  against  evil,  no  matter 
what  appearances  seem  to  suggest  that  God  does  not 


160    DIVINE    SCRUTINY    AND    GUIDANCE 

care.  The  doom  of  evil  must  be  certain;  and  so 
tlie  Psalmist  solemnly  dissociates  himself  from  the 
wicked  men  who  hate  and  blaspheme  God.  And  the 
conclusion  is  simply  and  humbly  to  throw  open  heart 
and  soul  to  God,  accepting  the  fact  that  He  cannot 
be  deceived,  praying  God  to  search  him  and  purify 
him  and  lead  him.  "Search  me,  O  God,  and  know 
my  heart :  try  me,  and  know  my  thoughts :  and  see  if 
there  be  any  wicked  way  in  me,  and  lead  me  in  the 
way  everlasting."  If  such  will  be  our  humble  atti- 
tude and  prayer,  then  like  Erskine  of  Linlathen  we 
may  well  wish  to  have  this  Psalm  before  us  on  our 
deathbed;  for  it  brings  the  comfort  of  God's  pres- 
ence, that  we  have  submitted  and  been  reconciled  to 
God,  and  there  is  nothing  now  we  would  even 
seek  to  hide;  and  underneath  are  the  everlasting 
arms. 

We  have  said  that  the  feeling  of  God's  omniscience 
and  omnipresence  brings  to  the  Psalmist's  mind  the 
practical  moral  thought  of  how  dreadful  all  the  evil 
of  the  world  must  be  to  His  all-seeing  and  pure  eyes, 
and  makes  him  long  for  a  new  earth  wherein  dwelleth 
righteousness.  He  feels  he  must  separate  himself 
from  the  wicked  men  who  live  in  revolt  against  good 
and  who  hate  God.  But  he  is  not  content  with  such 
moral  indignation  against  others.    He  is  driven  in  to 


DIVINE    SCRUTINY    AND    GUIDANCE    161 

consider  the  state  of  liis  own  heart,  and  to  be  willing 
to  ojDen  np  his  whole  nature  to  the  divine  scrutiny 
that  he  may  be  purged  from  evil.  It  is  in  no  spirit 
of  Pharisaic  self-confidence  and  arrogant  presump- 
tion that  he  makes  the  offer  to  God.  He  does  not 
invite  God's  examination  of  him  because  he  imagines 
that  he  is  righteous  and  will  pass  with  credit.  He 
knows  that  God,  who  understands  the  thought  in  his 
mind  and  the  word  on  his  tongue,  cannot  be  deceived. 
He  knows  that  he  cannot  escape  from  the  divine 
judgment ;  and  in  all  humility  he  is  ready  to  submit 
in  the  hope  that  he  may  be  purified  and  led.  "That 
man,"  says  Calvin,  "must  have  no  common  confi- 
dence who  offers  himself  so  boldly  to  the  scrutiny  of 
God's  judgment."  It  would  be  the  presumption  of 
self-ignorance  if  it  were  not  a  prayer  for  light  and 
guidance.  Search  me,  O  God,  and  know  my  heart: 
try  me,  and  know  my  thoughts:  and  see  if  there  be 
any  wicked  way  in  me,  and  lead  me  in  the  way 
everlasting. 

Divine  examination  and  divine  guidance  are  the 
two  petitions  of  the  prayer;  and  the  two  are  not 
only  connected,  but  are  dependent  on  each  other.  It 
is  only  the  man  who  submits  to  God,  and  who  opens 
himself  up  to  the  scrutiny,  and  who  is  willing  to 
stand  in  the  light  whatever  it  may  reveal,  who  can 


162    DIVINE    SCRUTINY    AND    GUIDANCE 

be  divinely  led  in  the  way  of  life.  And  it  is  only 
the  man  who  really  desires  this  guidance,  who  is 
ready  to  be  searched  and  tried  and  known.  We  all, 
in  some  form,  know  and  admit  the  value  of  some 
sort  of  examination  of  life,  the  need  of  some  kind 
of  judgment  and  test;  and  we  know  that  life  and 
character  are  weighed  in  some  balance  or  other.  It 
is,  for  example,  not  only  religion  which  lays  some 
stress  on  self-examination  and  self-judgment.  Every 
sort  of  culture,  every  sort  of  proficiency  and  art  and 
work,  asks  for  some  self-scrutiny,  by  which  we  may 
gauge  our  progress  and  learn  what  we  lack  and  where 
we  must  apply  ourselves.  Religion  also  asks  for  self- 
examination.  It  calls  a  halt,  and  asks  for  the  inward 
look.  It  asks  us  to  consider,  and  examine  character 
and  motives  and  faith  and  life.  In  Protestant 
Churches  the  time  before  Communion  has  usually 
been  made  an  occasion  for  some  such  examination. 
It  is  good  once  in  a  while  to  take  our  inner  life  to 
pieces,  and  frankly  and  honestly  analyse  its  parts. 
If  we  did  this  with  any  degree  of  honesty,  we  would 
have  our  programme  for  the  next  months  settled  for 
us.  Any  kind  of  self-judgment  is  better  than  none ; 
for  there  is  always  a  chance  of  learning  the  truth,  and 
of  discovering  duty.  Let  a  man  then  examine  him- 
self, search  and  know  his  heart,  try  and  know  his 


DIVINE    SCRUTINY    AND    GUIDANCE    163 

thoughts;  and  the  chances  are  that  he  will  find  out 
something  that  concerns  himself  nearly. 

But  we  do  not  need  to  he  told  that  self-judgment 
often  errs,  and  comes  to  a  false  decision.  It  may 
be  vitiated  by  vanity  on  the  one  side,  or  by  morbid- 
ness on  the  other.  Everything,  too,  depends  on  the 
standard,  the  vigour  and  rigour  with  which  the 
examination  is  prosecuted.  By  itself  it  may  result 
in  an  idle  self-confidence,  or  in  an  evil  despair.  Even 
when  it  is  serious  and  earnest  it  may  lead  to  the  vice 
of  introspection,  which  will  kill  action  and  destroy 
the  will.  Some  men  are  always  searching  their  heart 
and  trying  their  thoughts,  until  the  garden  of  their 
life  is  made  a  desert  where  no  flower  will  grow. 
They  may  be  so  anxious  about  their  motives  that  they 
will  never  do  a  straight  and  plain  action.  That  sort 
of  self-examination  has  its  limits  indeed. 

There  is  another  kind  of  examination  we  are 
constantly  undergoing,  the  judgment  of  others.  Con- 
sciously and  unconsciously  men  are  passing  a  verdict 
on  us.  We  are  always  incurring  criticism,  the  at- 
tempt of  others  to  estimate  our  work  and  our  worth. 
This,  too,  we  know  is  often  false  and  sometimes 
unjust.  The  judgment  may  be  too  favourable  or  too 
severe.  The  world  judges  results.  It  cannot  take 
account  of  motives  or  even  of  opportunities.     Out- 


164    DIVINE    SCRUTINY    AND    GUIDANCE 

side  criticism  cannot  avoid  being  largely  surface 
criticism.  In  the  region  especially  of  character, 
such  examination  constantly  errs.  It  cannot  really 
search  the  heart  and  know  the  thoughts  and  try  the 
spirit.  What  is  easy  to  one  may  from  temperament 
and  training  be  hard  to  another;  and  there  is  not 
evidence  enough  for  men  to  judge  true  judgment 
regarding  the  deepest  things  in  life.  On  the  whole, 
self-examination  has  a  better  chance  of  arriving  at 
a  true  state  of  affairs. 

But  here  is  a  judgment  both  from  without  and 
from  within,  which  can  test  the  life.  It  is  to  this 
the  Psalmist  offers  himself,  to  a  judgment  that  is 
unerring,  a  scrutiny  that  is  both  just  and  merciful, 
an  examination  that  will  set  for  him  a  standard  by 
which  he  can  examine  himself.  "Search  me,  O  God, 
and  know  my  heart :  try  me,  and  know  my  thoughts : 
and  see  if  there  be  any  wicked  way  in  me." 

For  one  thing,  this  is  the  method  of  true  self- 
examination,  not  to  dig  and  quarry  and  burrow 
within,  trying  to  unveil  the  recesses  and  corners  of 
life ;  but  to  give  up  all  our  self-deceptions  and  simply 
stand  in  the  revealing  light.  It  is  to  submit  to  God, 
to  invite  and  welcome  His  scrutiny,  to  lay  bare  heart 
and  conscience  and  will,  let  them  make  what  dis- 
closure they  may.    In  this  mood  of  self -surrender  we 


DIVINE    SCRUTINY    AND    GUIDANCE     165 

are  not  concerned  about  saving  our  face,  as  we  say. 
And  we  do  not  need  to  argue  pro  and  con  about  this 
or  that  habit  or  practice  or  act.  We  do  not  discuss 
the  rights  and  wrongs  of  this  or  that  point  of  casu- 
istry. We  are  past  self-conceahnent,  or  self-abase- 
ment for  that  matter.  We  are  there  searched  through 
and  through  by  the  discovering  light;  and  we  look 
at  things  somewhat  with  the  eyes  of  God.  We  see 
ourselves  with  the  mask  off.  Any  wicked  way  that 
may  be  in  us  is  not  hard  to  discover  then.  It  stands 
out  in  hideous  relief  and  cannot  be  concealed.  We 
are  searched,  searched,  not  by  ourselves, — then  there 
would  be  means  of  masquerade  or  some  sort  of  con- 
cealment,— but  by  the  naked,  penetrating  light  which 
there  is  no  escaping.  When  a  man  is  brought  thus 
face  to  face  with  God  there  is  always  some  such  self- 
revelation.  He  is  searched  and  tried  and  known. 
That  is  the  hope  of  the  situation.  Whatever  be  the 
instrument  of  such  disclosure,  welcome  it.  If  it  be 
fightings  without  and  fears  within,  they  are  angels 
of  mercy.  If  it  be  sorrow,  then  "blind  me  with  see- 
ing tears  until  I  see."  It  is  worth  going  through 
the  valley  of  the  shadow  to  come  out  at  last  to  such 
light  as  this. 

Notice  further  that  the  prayer  for  divine  examina- 
tion turns  into  a  prayer  for  divine  guidance.     The 


166    DIVINE    SCRUTINY    AND    GUIDANCE 

searching  is  not  for  its  own  sake.  It  is  not  simply 
to  see  even  if  there  be  any  wicked  way  in  heart 
or  mind.  It  is  to  lead  him  into  the  way  of  true  life. 
A  danger  of  so  much  of  our  religious  self-examina- 
tion is  to  rest  content  with  its  own  diagnosis.  It  can 
become  even  a  luxury  of  confession.  Some  seem  to 
derive  a  subtle  pleasure  in  repentance,  in  calling 
themselves  the  chief  of  sinners.  It  is  not  a  dynamic 
on  the  life.  There  is  always  something  unreal  in 
such  self-examination.  This  searching  which  the 
Psalmist  asked  for  was  to  lead  him  to  a  truer  and 
purer  and  nobler  life.  The  light  that  searched 
him  became  the  light  that  led  him,  a  lamp  to  his 
path.  The  divine  scrutiny  becomes  the  divine  guid- 
ance. "Search  me,  and  try  me,  and  lead  me  in  the 
way  everlasting." 

I  do  not  suggest  to  you  now  methods  of  examina- 
tion, what  to  read,  and  times  and  forms  of  prayer, 
and  what  subjects  for  reflection  suitable  to  such  work, 
and  the  things  to  examine  yourself  about — though 
these  things  have  their  use  and  their  place — but  I 
do  not  suggest  these  now,  because  these  are  not 
'primary.  It  is  not  by  method  that  religion  is  born, 
but  by  the  open  vision  of  God.  The  methods  are 
well  and  can  be  used  with  success,  only  as  this  first 
requisite  is  complied  with.     All  the  methods  pf  self- 


DIVINE    SCRUTINY    AND    GUIDANCE     167 

examination  most  approved  of  by  the  masters  of 
devotional  life  will  not  themselves  lead  a  man  into 
the  way  everlasting.  The  Psalmist  is  not  thinking  of 
any  such  methods,  or  even  of  self-scrutiny  at  all, 
when  he  asks  to  be  searched  and  tried.  It  is  the 
recognition  and  acceptance  of  God  that  he  feels  is 
the  important  thing.  He  knows  that,  whether  he 
will  or  not,  God  is  searching  and  trying  him ;  and  his 
desire  is  to  open  his  whole  heart  and  soul  to  meet 
with  God.  He  would  have  God  hold  his  hand  and 
lead  him  in  the  way  of  life.  He  would  turn  the 
scrutiny  into  guidance;  and  this  is  done  by  simple 
surrender.  To  accept  God's  love  humbly  as  a  little 
child  is  to  see  the  Kingdom;  and  to  submit  to  the 
discipline  of  the  Kingdom  which  searches  and  tries 
and  knows  will  bring  a  man  to  the  joy  and  peace  of 
the  Kingdom,  and  will  lead  him  in  the  way  ever- 
lasting. It  is  a  variant  of  the  sweet  and  beautiful 
promise,  which  has  been  fulfilled  in  countless  lives: 
"In  all  thy  ways  acknowledge  Him,  and  He  shall 
direct  thy  paths." 


XVI 
A    PATTERN    OF    GOOD    WORKS 

In  all  things  showing  thyself  a  pattern  of  good  works. — Titus  ii.  7. 

In"  this  section  of  the  Epistle  are  directions  to  Titus 
as  to  how  he  is  to  teach  and  how  he  is  to  com- 
port himself,  and  the  instructions  are  summed  up  in 
this  counsel  to  strive  to  be  a  pattern.  The  Revised 
Version  has  changed  the  word  into  "ensample,"  need- 
lessly, I  think;  for  the  meaning  is  quite  clear,  and 
the  new  word  does  not  bring  out  the  meaning  any 
better.  If  the  revisers  had  wished  to  be  very  exact 
they  might  have  used  the  Greek  word,  which  is 
"tj^e."  Shew  thyself  a  type  of  good  works.  But 
the  word  "type"  in  English  has  so  many  varied  mean- 
ings, that  nothing  could  better  the  word  "pattern" 
in  this  connection.  Type,  in  the  sense  of  the  word 
here,  means  a  definite  standard,  and  so  an  exemplar 
or  model  or  pattern ;  as  when  we  say  that  Hamlet  is 
the  highest  type  of  philosophical  tragedy.  A  type  in 
this  sense  is  a  characteristic  embodiment  of  the  par- 
ticular class.     So,  Titus  is  called  to  represent  the 

168 


A    PATTERN    OF    GOOD    WORKS    169 

Christian  life,  to  show  the  type  of  character  and  con- 
duct which  the  Christian  faith  creates. 

Pattern  is  thus  a  very  good  translation  of  the 
word,  and  in  itself  is  very  interesting.  It  is  a  form 
of  the  word  "patron,"  and  came  to  mean  what  it  does 
because  a  patron  is  one  who  stands  in  a  relation  of 
superiority  like  that  of  father,  from  which  indeed 
the  word  comes  farther  back;  and  so  a  pattern  or 
patron  is  one  whose  conduct  and  tone  are  likely  to 
be  imitated.  Thus  the  word  pattern  came  to  be  used 
for  a  model  to  be  copied,  or  a  design  to  be  carried 
out  in  a  manufacture,  as  the  pattern  in  machinery. 
When  we  speak  of  a  man  being  a  pattern  we  mean 
that  he  is  worthy  of  imitation,  that  he  is  a  good 
example  to  be  followed.  He  is  a  model  of  life  and 
conduct.  If  Titus  show  himself  a  pattern  in  the 
Apostle's  injunction,  his  life  will  be  something  to  be 
closely  followed  as  a  model.  We  commonly  use  sim- 
ilar phrases,  like  a  "model  of  generosity,"  a  "pattern 
of  virtue."  So  Titus,  the  teacher,  is  to  teach  and 
live  that  in  all  things  he  may  show  himself  a  pattern 
of  good  works. 

The  object  of  this  circumspection  is  that  the 
Gospel  may  be  commended  and  that  no  one  may  have 
any  evil  thing  to  say  of  the  faith.  There  is  some- 
thing in  the  wise  word  of  the  Proverb:  "When  a 


170    A    PATTERN    OF    GOOD    WORKS 

man's  ways  please  the  Lord,  He  maketh  even  his 
enemies  to  be  at  peace  with  him."  Men,  after  all, 
are  compelled  to  respect  the  upright,  honourable  man. 
They  are  forced  to  value  his  goodness.  A  good  man 
wins  over  other  men,  at  least  to  let  him  live  in  peace. 
And  even  if  this  is  not  always  so, — as,  alas !  it  is  not, 
else  how  should  the  early  Christians  have  suffered 
such  cruel  persecution? — the  great  point  of  the 
Apostle  is  that  by  a  consistent  walk  and  conversa- 
tion enemies  may  not  get  a  handle  against  their 
religion. 

It  is  a  solemn  trust  that  is  given  to  us  to  walk 
worthy  of  our  vocation.  At  the  Mount  of  Com- 
munion we  looked  on  our  Great  Exemplar.  We  saw 
His  gTace  and  loveliness:  our  hearts  acknowledged 
the  beauty  of  His  holiness.  His  face  was  trans- 
figured before  us  as  the  unearthly  glory  of  the  Cross 
illumined  it.  Instinctively  we  felt  that  human  life 
is  meant  to  be  Christian  life.  The  lesson  of  it  all  to 
our  souls  is  the  word  to  Moses :  "See  that  thou  make 
all  things  according  to  the  pattern  showed  to  thee  in 
the  Mount."  Our  task  is  to  copy  that  pattern  of 
beauty  which  our  spiritual  eyes  have  seen. 

Then,  we  are  sobered  by  the  thought  that  the  copy 
of  the  pattern  becomes  itself  a  pattera;  for  that  is 
what  the  Apostle's  words  to  Titus  imply.     The  world 


A    PATTERN    OF    GOOD    WORKS    171 

knows  Christ  through  Christians.  The  Light  reflects 
itself  in  us.  The  Light  of  the  world  said  to  His 
poor,  unworthy  disciples:  "Ye  are  the  light  of  the 
world."  The  Great  Example  asks  us  to  be  examples. 
The  Worker  looks  for  our  co-operation.  The  spirit- 
ual effect  in  us  becomes  a  spiritual  cause  from  us. 
The  Master  said:  "I  have  given  you  an  example 
that  ye  should  do  as  I  have  done  to  you."  And  the 
implication  of  that  is  drawn  out  as  in  the  First 
Epistle  to  Timothy:  "Be  thou  an  example  to  them 
that  believe  in  word,  in  manner  of  life,  in  love,  in 
faith,  in  purity."  This  day  the  Pattern  was  shown 
to  us  in  the  Mount.  And  the  practical  conclusion  to 
each  soul  is  the  summons ;  "Show  thyself  a  pattern 
of  good  works." 

It  is  a  terrible  responsibility  that  the  pattern  is 
judged  by  the  copies  of  it.  We  say  that  it  is  un- 
reasonable that  men  should  reject  Christ  because 
of  His  unworthy  disciples,  that  it  is  very  bad  logic 
for  men  to  give  religion  the  go-by  because  of  the 
objectionable  specimens  of  religious  people,  that  faith 
should  be  discredited  through  such  poor  results  of 
faith  in  the  lives  of  believers.  In  a  sense,  it  is  very 
bad  logic  indeed;  for  it  is  judging  without  looking 
at  the  very  thing  to  be  judged :  namely,  Christ  Him- 
self;  but  it  is  very  natural  logic,  we  must  own.     It 


172    A    PATTERN    OF    GOOD    WORKS 

is  after  all  not  so  unreasonable  to  form  an  opinion 
of  a  pattern  by  an  ostensible  copy.  And  indeed  it  is 
our  Lord's  own  test  for  faith:  ''By  their  fruits  ye 
shall  know  them."  Whatever  we  may  say  about  the 
popular  logic,  we  have  the  fact  that  Christ  is  judged 
by  Christians,  and  that  explains  the  insistence  with 
which  the  Apostle  fastens  resj)onsibility  on  repre- 
sentative Chi-istians  like  Timothy  and  Titus,  since 
they  stand  as  examples,  tj^pical  of  what  the  Chris- 
tian faith  produces.  We,  too,  must  take  account  of 
this.  It  is  a  fact  of  history  that  a  religion  makes 
gTound  according  to  the  kind  of  pattern  it  sets  forth, 
according  to  the  type  of  life  it  creates.  The  early 
Christian  faith  sw^ept  the  world  by  palpably  dis- 
playing its  magnificent  type  of  life.  It  confidently 
pointed  to  the  fruits  of  honour  and  probity,  of  cour- 
age and  endurance,  of  love  and  self-sacrifice,  of  self- 
control  and  purity.  There  is  the  pattern,  it  said 
boldly;  look  at  it,  examine  it  closely,  judge  ye.  They 
were  not  afraid  to  make  the  challenge ;  and  as  a  fact 
of  history  it  was  this  that  carried  the  faith  in  tri- 
umph. Men  felt  the  powerful  logic  of  Christian 
life  who  would  have  been  deaf  to  the  logic  of  Chris- 
tian argument. 

It  is  so  still.     There  is  no  arguing  against  the 
sweet  and  winsome  fruits  of  the  Spirit.     They  tell 


A    PATTERN    OF    GOOD    WORKS    173 

their  own  tale  and  preach  their  own  sermon.  "Chris- 
tianity," says  the  historian  Fronde,  "has  abler  advo- 
cates than  its  professed  defenders,  in  those  quiet 
and  humble  men  and  women  who  in  the  light  of  it 
and  the  strength  of  it  live  holy,  beautiful,  and  self- 
denying  lives.  The  God  that  answers  by  fire  is  the 
God  whom  mankind  will  acknowledge;  and  so  long 
as  the  fruits  of  the  Spirit  continue  to  be  visible  in 
charity,  in  self-sacrifice,  in  those  graces  which  raise 
human  creatures  above  themselves,  thoughtful  per- 
sons will  remain  convinced  that  with  them  in  some 
form  or  other  is  the  secret  of  truth."  If  Christians, 
the  salt  of  the  earth,  have  not  lost  their  savour;  if 
Christians,  the  light  of  the  world,  still  give  out  the 
self -attesting  flame ;  if  grace  is  seen  in  the  trophies 
of  grace,  the  faith  must  move  to  ever  larger  domin- 
ion, and  must  take  ever  deeper  hold.  Men  will 
bow  in  mute  assent  to  the  God  that  answers  by 
fire. 

What  have  we  to  say  to  this  burden  which  the 
Master  puts  on  us  to  show  ourselves  patterns  of  good 
works  that  men  may  have  no  evil  thing  to  say  of 
us — and  of  Him  ?  What  kind  of  judgment  will  men 
form  of  Him  from  what  they  see  of  us  ?  Are  we 
satisfied  that  the  copy  does  justice  to  the  pat- 
tern shown  to  us  in  the  Mount  ?     Do  we  take  our 


174    A    PATTERN    OF    GOOD    WORKS 

responsibility  in  tins  matter  seriously  enough  ?  Have 
we  accepted  the  dread  gift  of  influence  with  due 
solemnity?  We  are  always  influencing  others  for 
good  or  evil.  We  are  affecting  the  environment  of 
other  human  souls.  For  some,  at  least,  we  are  pat- 
terns to  be  imitated,  but  of  what  sort?  In  what 
direction  does  our  influence  tell?  We  cannot  creep 
out  of  responsibility,  and  pretend  to  ourselves  that 
what  we  are  cannot  matter  much  to  any.  There  is 
a  humility  which  is  only  cowardice,  a  common  enough 
humility  which  makes  a  man  shelter  himself  behind 
a  confession  of  obscurity  and  insignificance.  It  is  not 
for  me  this  solemn  warning,  we  say;  I  do  not  count 
and  do  not  want  to  count:  the  warning  is  for  the 
high-priests,  for  those  in  lofty  station  or  place  of  wide 
influence,  for  those  of  commanding  authority  who  are 
able  to  affect  a  large  circle.  Yes,  for  them — and 
for  you.  There  is  no  getting  away  from  responsibil- 
ity, still  less  if  this  day  you  have  named  the  name  of 
Jesus  and  humbly  confessed  yourself  one  of  this 
Man's  disciples.  The  appeal  is  not  confined  to 
official  Christians,  like  Timothy  and  Titus,  or  to  men 
whose  position  or  talents  give  weight  to  their  pro- 
fession, but  it  embraces  all  who  are  named  by  His 
name. 

Let  me  particularise  briefly  in  one  or  two  lines 


A    PATTERN    OF    GOOD    WORKS    175 

of  influence  which  will  showyoiirparamountresponsi- 
bility.  There  is  the  home,  for  instance.  It  may  mean 
much  for  religion  that  a  man  like  Mr.  Gladstone,  who 
wielded  such  power,  should  be  seen  to  have  lived  a 
life  of  humble  faith  and  constant  prayer.  It  helps 
to  purify  and  inspire  our  whole  public  life  when  a 
man  who  was  Prime  Minister  of  Great  Britain  should 
witness  for  religion.  But  any  such  influence  as 
that  is  dim  and  weak  within  the  doors  of  your  home 
compared  with  the  power  you  exercise.  It  is  far 
away  at  the  best,  thrown  from  a  distance ;  but  yours 
is  intimate,  and  personal,  and  continuous.  It  plays 
upon  the  lives  of  the  home  without  ceasing,  sug- 
gesting, directing,  controlling.  You  are  a  pattern 
that  is  being  imitated  unconsciously.  This  subtle 
influence  of  spiritual  environment  cannot  be  over- 
estimated. It  is  making  character  and  forming 
souls,  giving  the  bent  and  colour  and  tone  to  life.  It 
is  also  the  most  far-reaching  of  all  influence,  affect- 
ing the  very  life  of  the  world;  for  the  whole  social 
structure  has  its  foundation  on  the  home.  What, 
then,  of  that  sacred  sphere,  where  no  other  outside 
influence  can  compete  with  yours  for  a  moment? 
There,  at  least,  you  are  a  pattern  assiduously  copied, 
and  what  you  are  and  what  you  do  are  woven  into 
the  warp  and  woof  of  other  lives. 


176    A    PATTERN    OF    GOOD    WORKS 

Take  another  sphere  of  influence  which  usually 
succeeds  to  that  of  the  home,  and  is  only  second  to 
it  in  its  intimate  effects— friendship.     It  is  a  gift 
to  you,  but,  like  other  gifts,  has  its  price.     There 
is  no  need  to  try  to  prove  to  you  the  fact  of  influ- 
ence here :  you  just  need  to  think  to  admit  it.     You 
must  know  how  associates  affect  each  other,  how  the 
attitude  of  a  friend's  mind  and  the  quality  of  his 
life    will    unconsciously    become    part    of    another's 
spiritual  enviromnent.     Have  you  used  your  influ- 
ence for  the  best  ends,  realising  that  you  were  ever 
showing  a  pattern  that  was  bound  to  be  more  or  less 
imitated  ?  There  is  a  wise  word  from  the  Apocryphal 
book  of  Ecclesiasticus:  "He  that  feareth  the  Lord 
directeth  his  friendship  aright;  for  as  he  is,  so  is  his 
neighbour  also." 

In  all  other  social  connections,  though  not  so  inti- 
mate as  these,  the  same  truth  holds  good— comrade- 
ship at  work,  fellowship  in  the  Church,  or  whatever 
be  the  relation  we  enter  into  with  others.  We  have 
a  charge  to  keep  in  all,  and  in  a  very  real  sense  have 
a  cure  of  souls.  We  have  to  consider  not  merely  how 
our  conduct  appeals  to  our  conscience,  but  how  it 
affects  others.  We  can  never  get  away  from  our 
influence. 

What  is  the  preacher  driving  at  ?    For  one  thing, 


A    PATTERN    OF    GOOD    WORKS    177 

driving  you  out  of  any  hole  or  corner  in  whicli  you 
would  hide  yourself  from  admitting  your  responsi- 
bility for  the  lives  and  souls  of  others.  It  works 
in  all  sort  of  ways,  and  you  cannot  escape.  I  know 
men  who  have  laxer  views  on  some  subjects  than  I 
have, — Sabbath-keeping,  for  instance, — ^but  who  yet 
have  refused  to  use  what  they  claim  as  their  liberty, 
because  they  see  possible  dangers  of  being  misun- 
derstood or  wounding  other  consciences  or  unwit- 
tingly leading  astray  some  who  have  not  the  same 
religious  convictions.  For  example's  sake  they  have 
given  up  their  liberty.  I  say  it  is  a  Christian  atti- 
tude. If  it  errs,  it  errs  on  the  safe  side.  Christ 
never  spoke  such  severe  words  as  of  those  who  put 
stumbling-blocks  in  the  way  of  men.  "Whoso  shall 
cause  one  of  these  little  ones,  which  believe  on  me, 
to  stumble,  it  were  better  for  him  that  a  mill-stone 
were  hanged  about  his  neck,  and  that  he  should  be 
sunk  in  the  depths  of  the  sea."  Yea,  better  there 
than  sunk  in  the  depths  of  Thy  displeasure,  O  loving 
Christ!  Better  never  to  have  been  born  than 
that ! 

"In  all  things  show  thyself  a  pattern  of  good 
works."  The  danger  of  a  long  series  of  patterns 
without  consulting  the  original,  is  that  errors  are 
perpetuated.     For    instance,    in    the    copying    of 


178 


A    PATTERN    OF    GOOD    WORKS 

manuscripts,  every  mistake  by  a  scribe  is  carefully 

repeated  by  successive  scribes  and  added  to.     The 

copy  of  a  copy  of  a  copy  gathers  an  accumulating 

accretion  of  errors.     Correction  is  supplied  by  going 

back  to  the  original,  which  is  not  always  available,  as 

in  the  manuscripts  of  the  ]S^ew  Testament.    But  here 

we   can  go  back   to   the    Fountainhead.      A   young 

Jewess,  who  is  now  a  Christian,  asked  the  lady  who 

bad  instructed  her  in   the   Gospel  to  read  history 

with  her,  ^'because,"  she  said,  "I  have  been  reading 

the  Gospels  and  I  am  puzzled.    I  want  to  know  when 

Christians  began  to  be   so  different  from   Christ." 

The  whole  condition  of  the  Church  and  the  world 

is  explained  by  that.      Christians  are  so  different 

from  Christ. 

We  must  take  no  other  pattern  but  the  original. 
Back  to  Christ,  past  Church  and  Sacraments,  past 
priests  and  creeds,  past  Paul  himself  and  the  Apos- 
tles ;  we  would  see  Jesus.  And  if  you  have  stumbled 
at  some  of  the  unworthy  copies,  go  to  the  first  Pat- 
tern and  Exemplar.  We  must  let  no  man  come  be- 
tween us  and  the  direct  heavenly  vision.  We  must 
take  no  other  pattern  but  the  pattern  showed  to  us 
in^  the  Mount.  We  must  go  straight  back  to  the 
original.  We  must  enter  into  spiritual  communion 
and  learn  the  mind  of  Christ  at  first  hand.     The 


A    PATTERN    OF    GOOD    WORKS    179 

branch,  must  abide  in  the  vine,  if  it  would  bear  the 
vine's  proud  fruitage.  We  must  abide  in  Christ, 
if  we  would  take  on  His  character  and  show  a  true 
copy  of  the  heavenly  patteru,  and  adorn  the  doctrine 
of  God  our  Saviour. 


XVII 
THE  SIGN  OF  CHRIST 

Tlien  certain  of  the  scribes  and  of  the  Pharisees  answered,  saying, 
Master,  we  would  see  a  sign  from  Thee.  But  He  answered  and  said 
unto  them,  An  evil  and  adulterous  generation  seeketh  after  a  sign  ; 
and  there  shall  be  no  sign  given  unto  it  but  the  sign  of  the  prophet 
Jonas. — Matthew  xii.  38. 

We  might  gather  from  its  source  as  coming  from  the 
Pharisees  that  this  question  had  a  malicious  purpose, 
to  undermine  the  authority  of  the  new  Teacher  with 
the  people  by  asking  from  Him  what  He  could  not, 
or  would  not,  perform.  But  from  the  historical  con- 
nection in  which  the  Evangelists  place  it  the  purpose 
was  not  only  malicious  but  almost  insulting.  Our 
Lord  had  in  the  pursuit  of  His  beneficent  healing 
ministry  cured  suffering  men;  and  the  Pharisees' 
explanation  was  that  He  had  power  from  an  evil 
source.  He  did  it,  they  asserted,  by  virtue  of  His 
connection  with  Beelzebub,  the  prince  of  devils.  And 
now  after  this  explanation  of  the  signs  and  wonders 
Jesus  did  among  men,  they  come  with  the  insulting 
question:  Master,  we  would  see  a  sign  from  Thee. 

180 


THE    SIGN    OF    CHRIST  181 

What  sort  of  sign  did  they  want  and  what  sort  of 
evidence  could  convince  them,  if  they  could  attribute 
His  healing  ministry  to  a  diabolic  origin  ?  The  veiled 
insult  of  the  demand  is  the  supercilious  passing  over 
of  all  He  had  been  and  done  as  if  it  did  not  count, 
and  as  if  He  must  now  do  something  of  sufficient 
magnitude  to  convince  them  that  His  pretensions 
were  trustworthy. 

There  is  a  demand  for  evidence  which  is  legiti- 
mate, nay,  which  is  necessary  for  the  highest  faith. 
But  in  this  case,  apart  from  the  hypocrisy  of  the 
question,  there  underlay  it  a  wrong  conception  of 
revelation,  and  a  wrong  conception  of  the  nature 
and  place  of  miracle.  They  wanted  Christ  to  per- 
form some  prodigy,  as  if  a  piece  of  wonder-working 
could  be  real  evidence  of  spiritual  things.  That 
this  is  so  was  shown  by  the  severity  of  Christ's  re- 
proach: "An  evil  and  adulterous  generation  seeketh 
after  a  sign."  This  phrase  is  to  be  interpreted  in  its 
common  Old  Testament  sense,  meaning  the  turning 
away  of  the  soul  of  man  from  its  rightful  allegiance 
and  love  to  God.  It  is  a  religious  rebuke.  God 
should  be  recognised  for  what  He  is,  and  the  recog- 
nition of  Him  should  not  be  dependent  on  external 
signs,  which  in  themselves  have  no  spiritual  signifi- 
cance.    Christ's  feeling  regarding  this  is  seen  from 


182  THE    SIGN    OF    CHRIST 

a  graphic  touch  recorded  by  St.  Mark,  who  writes 
that  when  the  Pharisees  came  seeking  a  sign  from 
heaven,  "Jesns  sighed  deeply  in  His  spirit."  It 
showed  a  lamentable  crassness  and  dulness  of  soul 
to  think  that  the  recognition  of  the  spiritual  should 
be  made  to  hang  on  prodigies  and  miracle-mongering' 
of  any  kind.  There  shall  be  no  sign  given  unto 
this  generation  but  the  sign  of  the  prophet  Jonas: 
(that  is,  no  sign  at  all  in  their  sense  of  the  word, 
no  sign  but  an  invisible  one  to  be  imderstood  and 
interpreted  spiritually) . 

This  attitude  of  our  Lord  is  not  contradictory 
of  the  value  He  elsewhere  placed  on  miracle  as 
evidence.  He  pointed  to  His  deeds  of  mercy  to 
authenticate  His  claims,  when,  as  in  the  case  of  John 
the  Baptist,  there  was  a  sincere  desire  to  know  the 
marks  of  the  Messiah.  But  His  miracles  were  moral 
in  purpose,  to  educate  and  reveal,  not  to  surprise  and 
astonish.  He  knew  from  sad  experience  that  it  was 
possible  for  men  to  believe  in  the  reality  of  miracle, 
and  at  the  same  time  lose  all  its  true  eviden- 
tial force,  even  to  ascribe  it  to  evil  power,  as  the 
Pharisees  did.  Thej;e  shall  be  no  sign  given  to  the 
curiosjty-mongers.  There  can  be  no  sign  given  to 
those  who  imagine  that  the  spiritual  can  be  proved 
by  the  material.     Mere  wonder-working  is  no  evi- 


THE    SIGN    OF    CHRIST  183 

dence  of  the  things  which  Jesus  came  to  teach  the 
world.  Men  are  not  to  be  led  to  God  in  the  sense 
that  Jesus  meant  by  thaumaturgic  displays,  by  con- 
juring tricks.  The  demand  of  the  Pharisees  showed 
a  radically  false  idea  of  the  whole  nature  and  place 
of  miracle. 

The  same  mistake  is  possible  to  us.  We  make  it 
when  we  think  that  faith  in  God  would  be  easier  to 
us  if  only  some  portent  were  vouchsafed  to  us;  if 
only  we  could  see  some  physical  evidence  specially 
designed  to  convince  us.  We  fall  into  the  Pharisees' 
error,  and  merit  their  rebuke,  when  we  sigh  for  the 
certitude  which  we  imagine  would  come  from  a 
celestial  appearance  or  a  voice  from  heaven;  or  if 
we  could  put  our  finger  into  the  print  of  the  nails. 
To  understand  Christ's  attitude  on  this  occasion  we 
need  to  have  our  minds  disabused  of  the  idea  that 
mere  miracle,  in  the  sense  of  prodigy,  is  evidence  of 
spiritual  things.  Some  miracles  are  signs  indeed,) 
but  only  when  there  is  spiritual  fitness  in  them :  that 
is,  when  they  are  more  than  the  wonder-working 
which  the  Pharisees  desired.  For  example,  our 
Lord's  healing  ministry  was  a  great  and  constant  sign 
of  the  love  of  God,  carrying  a  revelation  with  it  aS| 
truly  as  any  loving  word  of  the  Master  did. 

This  lets  light  upon  the  true  way  in  which  to 


184  THE    SIGN    OF    CHRIST 

view  the  wliole  question.  Our  Lord's  miracles  can- 
not be  separated  from  the  great  revelation  of  His 
whole  life  and  teaching.  Plis  words  and  His  works 
are  corelated.  The  miracles  are  not  to  be  looked  on 
as  isolated  exhibitions  of  power,  but  as  themselves 
contributing  to  the  revelation.  They  were  not  signs, 
but  vehicles  of  teaching.  They  are  not  signs  exter- 
nally attached  to  the  teaching  to  give  it  weight  and 
authority,  not  unexplainable  occurrences  testifying 
in  mysterious  fashion  to  the  possession  of  divine 
power.  They  do  not  evidence  the  teaching:  they 
themselves  are  teaching.  They  are  parables  in  action, 
moral  and  spiritual  in  their  effect,  not  evidential 
except  by  the  way.  They  are  an  integral  part  of 
the  revelation  of  the  love  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus. 
They  have  an  essential  place  in  the  whole  round  of 
the  Christian  revelation.  As  fruits  of  the  pity  of 
God,  as  manifestations  of  the  divine  love  and  wis- 
dom, they  are  part  of  the  manifestation  of  Christ. 
They  are  not  guarantees  of  His  message,  as  the 
Pharisees  here  made  them,  but  part  of  the  message 
itself;  as  much  evidences  of  God's  love  as  His  gra- 
cious, tender  words  are. 

It  is  not  that  the  demand  for  evidence  is  wrong. 
It  is  a  natural  demand  that  proof  should  be  given 
of  all  claims.     But  we  must  make  sure  what  really 


THE    SIGN    OF    CHRIST  185 

is  evidence.  A  miracle  of  nature  is  in  itself  no 
proof  of  a  moral  truth.  And  a  miracle  can  never  in 
itself  engender  spiritual  faith — not  if  one  rose  from 
the  dead  would  it  necessarily  imply  the  existence  of 
God  and  the  soul  and  immortality,  still  less  imply 
spiritual  faith.  Of  course  it  is  true  that  every  mira- 
cle was  a  sign  designed  to  induce  to  spiritual  results, 
to  lead  men  to  God.  But  like  the  teaching  itself, 
they  could  find  no  footing  in  the  soul  of  man  except 
through  spiritual  susceptibility.  We  rightly  ask 
for  evidence — but  what  evidence,  and  evidence  of 
what  ?  We  say  we  would  believe  in  Christ  if  only 
we  could  be  convinced — but  convinced  how?  and 
believe  what  about  Christ?  Men  have  sometimes 
asked,  with  an  injured  air,  why  they  could  not  be 
convinced  by  an  unmistakable  sign  from  heaven, 
why  Christ,  if  He  be  what  He  claimed,  could  not 
break  down  by  supernatural  means  the  barriers  of 
unbelief;  forcibly  open  the  door  of  the  heart  and  find 
entrance  ?  What  would  such  an  entrance  be  worth 
morally?  The  mere  sensuous  or  intellectual  gratifi- 
cation which  might  come  from  a  sign  from  heaven 
would  be  quite  outside  the  purpose  aimed  at  by 
our  Lord.  What  would  persuade  the  carnal  mind 
of  the  spiritual  ?  T^Tot  the  carnal  surely — not  if  one 
rose  from  the  dead. 


186  THE    SIGN    OF    CHRIST 

Christ  was  accredited  to  His  generation  not  by 
this  or  that  sign  or  wonderful  work,  but  by  His 
whole  ministry,  by  Himself;  by  His  life  and  teach- 
ing. He  Himself  was  the  sign.  If  the  sign  of  Jesus 
will  not  be  to  Jerusalem  what  the  sign  of  Jonah  was 
to  !Nineveh,  would  a  moment  of  astonishment  at  some 
wonder-working  create  spiritual  certitude?  If  the 
sign  of  Christ  will  not  convince  men  of  the  eternal 
love  of  God,  what  sign  from  heaven  will  ?  In  asking 
to  be  convinced  of  the  spiritual  by  some  impression 
on  the  senses,  we  ask  the  impossible.  'No  sign  can 
be  given  to  an  evil  and  adulterous  generation,  that  is, 
to  men  who  turn  away  in  heart  from  God.  No  sign 
can  be  given ;  for  the  conditions  of  their  recognising 
a  real  sign  when  it  comes  are  wanting.  They  look 
for  the  wrong  sign ;  they  ask  for  the  wrong  evidence. 
A  sign  to  prove  the  spiritual  must  itself  be  spiritual. 
If  God  asks  from  men  love,  will  some  celestial 
appearance  create  it?  If  God  asks  for  the  free 
allegiance  of  the  will,  could  a  voice  from  heaven,  or 
a  succession  of  voices,  subdue  the  mind  and  capture 
the  heart?  If  God  asks  for  righteousness,  the  loyal 
obedience  of  the  life  to  the  laws  of  life,  could  any- 
thing material  generate  the  moral  ?  There  can  be  no 
sign  given  to  men  who  cannot  see  the  sign  which 
Jesus  is  Himself.     He  authenticates  the  spiritual  to 


THE    SIGN    OF    CHRIST  187 

us.  Seeing  Him  we  must  believe  in  God,  or  if  not, 
how  could  we  be  made  more  sure  of  God?  Christ 
is  the  revealer  of  the  Father.  He  is  the  sign  and 
symbol  and  evidence  of  God.  By  word  and  deed 
and  life  and  death  He  testified  to  God.  He  is 
Immanuel,  the  sign  and  seal  of  God  with  us,  and 
God  for  us;  the  proof  of  the  divine  in  our  midst. 
There  shall  be  no  other  sign  given  this  generation: 
there  can  be  no  other.  He  is  the  highest  sign,  and 
if  the  greater  fails,  how  can  the  lesser  convince  ? 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  Jesus  has  convinced  the  world 
of  God,  and  is  convincing  the  world.  Through  Him 
we  know  God.  By  Him  we  have  access  to  God.  In 
Him  we  recognise  God.  For  His  sake  we  love  God. 
The  vision  of  Him  is  the  vision  of  God. 

This  generation  thirsteth  after  a  sign.  We  think 
it  an  evidence  of  our  spirituality  that  we  do  so 
thirst.  So  we  find  many  modern  versions  of  the 
demand  of  the  Pharisees,  sometimes  in  the  name  of 
science  and  sometimes  in  the  name  of  religion.  We 
can  even  manufacture  signs  when  they  seem  to  be 
lacking.  Sometimes  a  crude  evangelicalism,  emu- 
lating the  stupid  methods  of  medisevalism  of 
which  the  Lives  of  the  Saints  are  full,  asks  us  to 
believe  in  the  great  realities  of  the  spiritual  life 
because  of  some  material  signs,  answers  to  prayer, 


188  THE    SIGN    OF    CHRIST 

providences  which,  however  cogent  to  the  individuals 
concerned,  have  little  meaning  to  others.  Or  some- 
times we  have  a  recrudescence  of  the  crudest  spirit- 
ualism, spirit-rapping,  table-turning,  teacup-manipu- 
lating; after  which  the  devotees  go  home  feeling 
that  they  have  been  assisting  at  some  deep  form 
of  worship — as  if  the  melodramatic  vulgarisms  of 
spiritualism  could  prove  anything  but  the  folly  of 
the  race !  Or  again  we  have  the  same  claims  appear- 
ing in  a  more .  pretentious  garb  in  theosophy,  or 
Christian  science,  or  whatever  happens  to  be  the 
fashionable  form  of  it  at  the  time,  where  esoteric 
mysteries  of  some  kind  are  practised,  the  root  of  all 
such  things  being  this  same  unspiritual  thirst  after 
a  sign,  after  thaumaturgic  wonders,  faith-healing, 
and  other  things  pretty  much  on  the  level  of  con- 
juring tricks. 

All  this  is  a  sign  itself,  a  sign  of  the  weariness  and 
despair  and  breakdown  of  blank  materialism  to  sat- 
isfy the  heart  of  man ;  but  it  has  the  terrible  danger 
of  introducing  a  worse  form  of  materialism,  deceiv- 
ing the  carnal  heart  by  wearing  the  dress  of  spiritual 
religion.  How  unstable  it  is  we  see  from  the  constant 
swing  of  the  pendulum,  now  from  atheism  and  mate- 
rialism to  the  most  outrageous  supernaturalism ;  now 
in  the   opposite   direction  from  ultra-mysticism   to 


THE    SIGN    OF    CHRIST  189 

ultra-rationalism.  The  cause  of  these  seemingly  con- 
tradictory changes  is  not  far  to  seek;  as  both  are 
really  based  on  the  same  foundation,  a  wrong  con- 
ception of  what  the  spiritual  is  and  therefore  of 
what  is  true  evidence  of  it. 

This  generation  in  its  unbelief  thirsteth  after 
a  sign.  There  shall  be  no  sign  given  to  it.  'No  sign 
can  be  given  to  an  unspiritual  generation  which 
would  judge  all  things  by  material  standards,  a 
generation  that  is  blind  to  the  spiritual  signs  of 
which  life  is  full :  there  can  be  no  voice  from  heaven 
to  men  deaf  to  the  heavenly  voices  of  which  the 
whole  world  is  already  vocal.  If  the  spiritual  does 
not  evidence  itself,  if  men  will  not  see  that  God 
is  in  Christ  reconciling  the  world  to  Himself,  if  the 
sign  of  the  Cross  cannot  convince  the  stubborn  heart 
and  bend  it  to  acknowledge  the  divine  power  of  it, 
if  Jesus  Himself  is  not  seen  to  be  His  own  sign 
and  miracle.  His  own  evidence  and  proof,  there  shall 
be  no  sign  given — there  can  be  no  sign  given. 

Is  that  the  last  word  ? — the  clang  of  a  closed  door 
in  the  face  of  a  seeking  soul  ?  "Master,  we  would  see 
a  sign  from  Thee."  That  pitiful  cry  if  truly  asked, 
not  as  these  Pharisees,  but  craving  for  spiritual 
enlightenment  and  communion,  has  ever  been  an- 
swered.    Never  turned  He  away  an  earnest,  sincere, 


190  THE    SIGN    OF    CHRIST 

honest  enquirer  after  light  and  truth.  He  con- 
descends to  our  weakness.  When  we  cry,  Oh,  that 
I  knew  where  I  might  find  Him!  He  meets  us  by 
the  way,  and  makes  our  hearts  to  burn  within  us 
as  we  walk  with  Him,  convincing  us  of  His  love, 
convincing  us  of  the  Father.  When  the  heart  thirsts 
with  a  deeper  thirst  than  after  a  sign,  when  it  thirsts 
after  the  living  God,  when  heart  and  flesh  cry  out.  He 
shows  us  the  signs  of  His  passion,  as  with  Thomas : 
''Behold  My  hands  and  My" feet."  He  comforts  us 
with  the  sign  of  the  Cross.  And  before  that  won- 
drous manifestation  of  eternal  love,  before  that  rev- 
elation of  the  Father's  heart,  we  believe  and  worship 
and  adore  and  love,  and  say  in  penitence  and  faith: 
"My  Lord  and  my  God." 


XVIII 
LOVE  TO  THE  END 

Having  loved  His  own  which  were  in  the  world,  He  loved  them 
unto  tJie  end. — John  xiii.  1. 

Theee  is  a  distinct  division  in  St.  John's  Gospel  at 
this  point.  This  verse  marks  the  beginning  of  the 
end  of  the  Saviour's  life.  His  public  ministry  is 
over,  and  the  rest  belongs  to  the  inner  circle,  the 
men  He  had  been  preparing  to  carry  on  His  work. 
These  following  chapters  record  the  private  inter- 
course with  the  disciples.  It  is  now  the  ministry  of 
the  upper  room,  and  has  a  special  gracious  revelation 
of  love.  The  Master  gives  Himself  to  teach  the 
Twelve  and  make  them  ready  for  the  change.  The 
teaching  is  first  of  all  by  an  object-lesson,  when  He 
washed  the  disciples'  feet  in  tender  rebuke  and  in 
sweet  unfolding  of  His  own.  nature.  Then  He 
teaches  by  speech,  disclosing  the  profound  things  of 
the  spirit,  with  the  gracious  promise  of  the  Com- 
forter. The  explanation  of  all  that  follows  is  in 
these  words:  "Having  loved  His  own  which  were 

191 


192  LOVE    TO    THE    END 

in  the  world,  He  loved  tbeiii  unto  the  end."  It  is 
the  key  to  His  action  of  washing  their  feet,  to  give 
them  a  proof  of  His  enduring  love.  It  is  the  expla- 
nation of  all  His  previous  life,  and  of  the  death  He 
is  to  accomplish  soon.  St.  John  gives  us  in  these 
words  the  right  point  of  view  for  understanding  the 
true  significance  of  all  that  follows  and  of  all  that 
went  before.  He  was  possessed  and  governed  by 
love,  the  Apostle  declares.  If  we  do  not  see  this, 
we  see  nothing  and  understand  nothing.  All  that 
Jesus  was  and  did  was  the  fruit  of  love.  He  had 
loved  His  own  which  were  in  the  world,  and  now  He 
loves  them  unto  the  end.  A  Latin  proverb  says  that 
the  end  crowns  the  work.  When  the  Saviour  said 
on  the  cross,  "It  is  finished,"  His  end  of  sacrifice  was 
the  carrying  forward  and  culmination  of  all  His 
grace.  This  supreme  act  is  the  summit  and  crown 
of  all  His  love.  So  in  Communion  we  take  our  com- 
memoration of  Christ's  death  as  a  commemoration  of 
His  love,  that  having  loved  His  own  which  were  in 
the  world,  He  loved  them  unto  the  end. 

The  writer,  looking  back  reflectively,  sees  that 
only  love  explains  all  that  Jesus  did  that  night.  He 
remembers  how  the  disciples,  as  they  came  to  the 
upper  room,  were  heated  with  false  ambitions,  and 
were    squabbling   about    precedence,    so    angry    and 


LOVE    TO    THE    END  193 

jealous  with  eacli  other  that  none  of  them  would 
perform  the  usual  office  of  taking  off  each  other's 
sandals  and  washing  the  feet.  There  had  arisen  a 
contention  which  of  them  would  be  accounted  great- 
est, and  no  one  would  lower  his  pretensions  by  under- 
taking a  menial  task  and  so  confess  himself  the 
servant  of  all.  It  was  in  a  temper  of  self-assertion 
and  in  a  mood  of  resentment  that  thej  entered  the 
upper  room.  How  can  they  listen  to  all  the  deep 
things  of  the  spirit  which  their  Master  desires  to  tell 
them  so  long  as  such  passions  are  in  their  hearts  ? 
That  Jesus  should  humble  Himself  to  teach  them 
the  lesson  He  did  must  have  brought  a  bitter  humilia- 
tion to  them.  To  St.  John  it  was  a  proof  of  endur- 
ing love,  far  more  remarkable  on  looking  back  on  it 
than  it  could  even  be  at  the  time.  For  the  shadow 
of  the  Cross  was  on  Christ's  heart,  the  betrayal,  the 
desolation,  the  trial,  the  crucifixion,  the  crisis  of  His 
whole  cause  and  Kingdom.  The  apostle  sees  on 
looking  back  that  only  perfect  love  could  have  done 
what  Jesus  did  then,  as  He  turned  from  His,  own 
thoughts  and  bent  to  the  menial  task.  He  had  loved 
them, — that  was  plain, — and  nothing  had  tired  out 
that  love,  not  their  folly  or  thoughtlessness  or  selfish- 
ness. He  came  to  minister,  to  serve,  and  He  went 
on  serving  unto  the  end.     Their  childish  pettiness  on 


194  LOVE    TO    THE    END 

this  occasion  only  gave  a  gentler  pity  to  His  love 
and  a  sweeter  and  more  patient  tone  to  His  speech. 
He  does  not  give  up  loving  because  He  sees  they 
are  so  unworthy  of  His  love.  The  shadow  of  their 
unloveliness  only  throws  into  keener  brilliance  the 
light  of  His  love. 

There  is  thus  a  contrast  implied  between  the  Lover 
and  the  loved.  The  nature  and  quality  of  Christ's 
love  are  clearer  seen  when  we  think,  as  St.  John  was 
thinking,  of  those  He  loves.  Men  love  the  lovable, 
what  fits  in  with  their  ideas  of  what  deserves  their 
love;  but  Christ  loves  even  the  unlovely.  The 
Apostle  knows  that,  when  he  remembers  what  they 
were  that  night.  It  was  the  very  extravagance  of 
love  that  it  should  be  so.  And  we  who  trust  to  His 
love  and  stay  our  hearts  by  it,  know  also  how  un- 
worthy to  be  loved  we  are,  and  say.  Great  is  the 
mystery  of  the  Godhead  in  that  God  should  so  love 
the  world.  We,  too,  can  come  to  the  very  Table  with 
bitter  and  angry  thoughts,  with  feeble  and  foolish 
ambitions.  But  we  cannot,  we  do  not,  doubt  His 
love.  We  may  doubt  all  else,  but  this  we  know.  "He 
loved  His  own  which  were  in  the  world" ;  that  He 
should  love  them  at  all  is  the  mystery;  but  having 
loved  them,  all  the  eternal  enduring  quality  of  His 
love  comes  into  force  and  He  loves  utterly. 


LOVE    TO    THE    END  195 

There  is  still  another  contrast  suggested  by  the 
words — a  contrast  between  the  divine  love  enduring 
without  change  or  chance  of  changing,  and  human 
love  even  at  its  best  fickle  and  transient  blown 
about  with  gusts  of  feeling.  There  are  so  many  false 
and  foolish  loves,  without  true  basis,  perishable  be- 
cause fixed  on  the  perishable,  with  no  permanent 
quality.  There  are  so  many  selfish  loves  which  fade 
when  self  is  served.  The  very  word  love  has  so 
often  been  degraded  and  misapplied,  so  despoiled  of 
its  spiritual  power,  that  we  almost  hesitate  to  apply 
the  same  word  to  such  a  love  as  this  of  Christ's,  when 
the  word  is  debased  by  its  association  with  so  much 
false  and  fickle  and  fleeting  human  love.  In  this 
respect,  too,  we  must  state  it  as  a  contrast  that  "He 
loved  them  unto  the  end." 

"Unto  the  end,"  then,  is  the  measure  of  the 
Saviour's  love,  and  the  word  does  not  mean  merely 
so  long  as  He  lived,  but  also  means  in  the  highest 
degree,  to  the  very  uttermost.  It  is  not  merely  a 
measure  of  time,  but  a  measure  of  the  quality  and 
passion  of  love,  l^ot  merely  to  the  end  of  His  life 
did  He  love,  but  to  the  end  of  love,  to  the  limits  of 
a  limitless  love.  There  are  no  conditions,  no  barriers, 
no  limits.  Place  the  end  where  you  will  or  how  you 
will,  draw  the  circumference  as  wide  as  you  may,  He 


196  LOVE    TO    THE    END 

fills  the  whole  circle  with  His  love.  He  loves  unto 
the  end,  that  is  its  quality.  To  the  end  of  His  life, 
the  end  of  your  life,  the  end  of  the  world,  the  end 
of  time — ^more  than  that,  it  is  to  the  end  of  an  end- 
less thing,  to  the  extreme  limit  of  the  limitless,  the 
very  end  of  love  itself.  It  does  not  mean  merely 
that  He  loved  till  He  died,  nor  merely  that  He 
loved  in  the  highest  degree,  but  includes  all  that 
and  more.  It  means  that  He  loved  through  all  that 
love  brought  Him,  the  humiliation,  the  suffering,  the 
sorrowful  way,  the  Cross.  Love  to  the  end  expresses 
the  height  and  depth  and  breadth  and  length  of  love ; 
and  that  was  how  He  loved  and  loves.  Shakespeare, 
in  the  CXVI  Sonnet,  gives  this  enduring  quality 
as  characteristic  of  the  highest  and  best  love : 

Love  is  not  love 
Wliicli  alters  •when  it  alteration  finds 
Or  bends  with  the  remover  to  remove.    .    . 
Love  alters  not  with  his  brief  hours  and  weeks, 
But  bears  it  out  even  to  the  edge  of  doom. 

This  is  the  love  of  Christ  on  which  we  rest,  a  love 
that  can  stand  any  test  and  will  not  fail,  a  love  that 
loves  us  the  unlovely,  a  love  that  endures  though  our 
love  dies,  a  love  strong  and  true  and  tender,  a  love 
without  limits,  that  continues  to  the  uttermost.  We 
can  lean  all  our  weight  on  it  without  fear  of  falling. 


LOVE    TO    THE    END  197 

We  can  base  all  our  hopes  npon  it  without  danger  of 
disappointment.  We  can  trust  it  without  chance 
of  its  changing.  It  has  no  variableness  nor  shadow  of 
turning.  It  bears  it  out  even  to  the  edge  of  doom. 
This  is  what  we  to-day  assure  ourselves  of.  Every- 
thing here  speaks  of  love  unto  the  end.  The  broken 
bread,  the  poured-out  wine,  tell  aloud  the  story  of 
love  to  the  uttermost.  We  warm  ourselves  at  that 
flame.  We  draw  courage  and  comfort  and  strength 
from  that  unfailing  source.  We  drink  from  that 
perennial  spring.  He  loved — He  loves — His  own, 
unto  the  end.  Sure  of  that,  what  else  matters  ?  And 
to  be  sure  of  it  we  take  this  as  testimony.  We  take 
in  our  hands  the  pledges  of  His  love,  and  we  know 
that  having  loved  He  loves  unto  the  end. 

Let  us  interpret  all  our  experience  by  this  great 
fact,  and  how  the  whole  path  is  illumined  and  the 
meaning  of  much  that  was  dark  is  made  clear.  We 
will  not  judge  God  by  every  little  unexplained  corner 
of  the  road,  but  by  the  whole,  long  stretch  of  His 
providence.  While  we  were  in  the  dark  patches 
we  did  not  understand  and  sometimes  doubted,  but 
on  looking  back  over  all  the  way  we  see  it  to  be  ruled 
and  governed  and  directed  by  love.  The  disciples 
might  sometimes  think  they  had  reason  to  doubt 
the  Master's  perfect  love.     At  this  very  time  they 


198  LOVE    TO    THE    END 

might  ask,  why  if  He  loved  them  they  should  be 
bereaved,  why  they  were  to  be  left  as  sheep  among 
wolves  ?  His  dealing  with  them  was  indeed  marked 
by  love,  but  was  it  all  love  and  only  love  and  love 
unto  the  very  end?  St.  John  saw  afterwards  that 
it  was  so,  from  first  to  last — nay,  there  was  no  last. 

We  sometimes  do  not  understand  the  way  of  His 
love.  Some  passages  and  events  puzzle  us  and  alarm 
our  faith.  We  cannot  explain  them  on  the  hypothesis 
that  they  are  the  result  of  absolute  love.  Why 
should  certain  things  happen  that  we  dreaded,  and 
other  things  be  denied  us  that  we  desired?  As 
George  Bowen  says  in  his  beautiful  book.  Love 
Revealed:  "He  takes  extraordinary  liberties  with  us. 
Believing  in  His  love  and  having  our  own  particular 
conception  of  what  love  is,  we  settle  in  our  minds 
that  a  certain  contingency  can  never  by  any  possi- 
bility be  allowed  to  come  to  pass.  Against  every- 
thing else  we  prepare — not  against  that.  We  feel 
that  it  would  be  an  unpardonable  outrage  to  His 
most  holy  nature  to  suppose  for  a  moment  that  He 
should  suffer  that  contingency  to  come  to  pass.  And 
yet  that  is  the  very  thing  that  He  brings  to  pass. 
We  had  boasted  of  the  love  of  Jesus  among  our  neigh- 
bours and  told  them  that  He  would  not  suffer  our 
brother  Lazarus  to  die,  but  would  assuredly  come  and 


LOVE    TO    THE    END  199 

restore  him  to  health ;  and,  lo !  Lazarus  dies  and  is 
buried,  and  it  is  much  if  our  sense  of  the  love  of 
Jesus  be  not  buried  with  him.  He  takes,  what  seem 
to  us,  frightful  liberties  with  our  sensibilities  and 
with  our  trust."  Well,  St.  John  did  not  understand 
all  that  was  taking  place  that  night  in  the  upper 
room,  and  all  that  happened  so  soon  after,  but  his 
final  testimony  afterwards  was,  as  the  final  explana- 
tion of  it  all :  "Having  loved  His  own.  He  loved  them 
to  the  end." 

We  have  surely  enough  to  warrant  us  in  making 
the  venture  of  faith.  We  do  not  need  to  wait  till 
the  journey  is  completed  before  we  will  own  the 
love  that  has  led  us  and  leads  us.  We  stand  upon 
a  vantage-ground  here  at  our  Communion  Celebra- 
tion from  which  we  see  enough  to  give  us  confi- 
dence. Let  us  take  the  love  of  the  Table  as  the  one 
central  fact  of  the  universe  to  us.  It  means  that 
He  has  loved,  why  should  it  not  be  a  love  unto  the 
end  ?  Why  should  we  not  trust  it  utterly,  and  use  it 
to  strengthen  and  encourage  and  console  every  step 
of  the  way?  It  follows  us:  it  precedes  us:  it  sur- 
rounds us.  It  is  sufficient  for  the  day  and  for  the 
night;  enough  for  life  and  for  death.  Let  us  make 
trial  of  the  strength  of  His  enduring  love,  and  it  will 
endure  in  times  of  desolation,  in  times  of  trial  and 


200  LOVE    TO    THE    END 

of  temptation,   and  in  the  last  hour  of  the   final 
passion  it  will  shepherd  us  into  the  eternal  fold. 

In  the  lonely  day  of  death, 
When  no  man  may  befriend, 
When  the  dark  angel  standeth  nigh, 
And  the  world  is  past  and  gone, 
Let  some  voice  o'er  me  cry, 
"And  having  loved  His  own. 
He  loved  them  to  the  end." 


XIX 

HOPE  TO  THE  END 

Whose  house  are  we,  if  we  hold  fast  the  confidence  and  the  rejoic- 
ing of  our  hope  firm  unto  the  end. — Hebrews  iii.  6. 

The  author  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  is  in  this 
section  contrasting  Christ  with  Moses.  He  is  writ- 
ing to  Jews  who  are  proud  of  their  past  history  and 
who  are  hard  to  convince  that  anything  in  that  past 
should  need  to  be  superseded.  Why  should  not  the 
law  of  Moses  be  necessary  now  as  before  ?  So,  one 
great  object  of  the  writer  is  to  show  that  the  previous 
revelation,  precious  as  it  is,  was  at  the  best  not  final 
but  was  imperfect;  and  that  Jesus  came  not  to 
destroy  the  law  but  to  fulfil  it.  Moses  was  indeed 
faithful  as  a  servant,  a  true  mediator  to  the  people, 
the  agent  of  the  old  covenant  to  the  Jews;  but  he 
asks  them  to  consider  the  faithfulness  of  Christ 
Jesus,  the  Mediator  of  the  new  covenant.  Greater 
than  Moses  who  was  indeed  a  faithful  servant  within 
God's  house,  but  Jesus  is  a  Son  over  that  house,  whose 

201 


HOPE    TO    THE    END 

house  or  household  are  we  who  believe.  The  Chris- 
tian faith  is  the  final  and  absolute  religion,  the  new 
covenant  between  God  and  man.  Partners  in  that 
faith  are  the  true  house  of  God.  Then  follows  the 
necessary  condition  of  our  being  members  of  that 
household:  "If  we  hold  fast  our  confidence  and  the 
rejoicing  of  our  hope  firm  unto  the  end."  It  is  an 
appeal  for  steadfastness  and  faithfulness,  the  endur- 
ance of  faith  and  hope. 

This  is  a  constant  note  of  the  Epistle  to  the 
Hebrews.  "We  are  made  partakers  of  Christ  if  we 
hold  the  beginning  of  our  confidence  steadfast  unto 
the  end."  Again,  he  asks  them  to  show  "diligence  to 
the  full  assurance  of  hope  unto  the  end."  It  is  a 
constant  note  also  of  the  ISTew  Testament,  and  be- 
comes more  urgent  as  the  young  Church  came  to 
grips  with  the  might  of  the  world.  When  temptations 
to  apostasy  were  common,  when  persecution  arose, 
the  keener  became  the  demand  for  unflinching  ad- 
herence. It  is  natural  that  stress  should  be  laid  on 
a  steadfast  testimony.  Converts  are  summoned  to 
hold  fast  the  faith  and  to  endure  unto  the  end.  It  is 
not,  however,  merely  a  hard  and  dogged  perseverance 
which  stands  obstinately  against  force  that  is  encour- 
aged;  but  an  inward  intensity  of  conviction,  a  hold 
of  the  central  things  of  faith;  for  it  is  spoken  of 


HOPE    TO    THE    END  203 

as  a  joyful  endurance,  and  (as  here)  a  glorying  of_ 
our  hope  unto  the  end. 

The  same  enduring  quality  of  faith  is  asked  of 
us;  and  this  is  the  pledge  we  would  fain  make  at 
the  Table  of  the  Lord.  We  renew  our  vows  and 
gather  strength  to  be  faithful — faithful  unto  death 
was  the  strenuous  word  of  the  early  Church.  The 
believing  and  hoping  unto  the  end  which  are  recom- 
mended to  us  in  the  l^ew  Testament  do  not  mean 
merely  to  the  end  of  life,  but  so  long  as  faith  and 
hope  are  needed,  right  on  till  faith  becomes  sight 
and  hope  becomes  reality,  right  on  as  long  as  may 
be,  holding  fast  confidence  and  hope  firm  unto 
the  end. 

This  endurance  and  confidence  and  hope  unto  the 
end  is  the  counterpart  and  result  of  Christ's  love 
unto  the  end.  We  celebrate  in  Communion  that 
enduring  love,  and  from  it  grows,  as  from  it  alone 
can  grow,  our  enduring  faith.  The  Sacrament  is  to 
us  the  pledge  of  Christ's  love  unto  the  end.  Here  we 
assure  ourselves  of  that,  and  are  confident  that  His 
love  has  not  failed  and  will  not  fail.  Everything 
reminds  us  of  that,  and  attests  it.  Every  detail  and 
action  of  the  simple  ritual  of  the  Table  bears  wit- 
ness. They  are  meaningless  apart  from  this.  Each 
thing  and  word  and  gesture  is  a  fresh  link  in  the 


204  HOPE    TO    THE    END 

golden  chain.  The  bread  and  the  bread  broken,  the 
wine  and  the  wine  poured  out,  the  Eucharist  prayer, 
the  very  words  of  dispensing  ''broken  for  you,  shed 
for  you,"  all  the  simple  symbolism  of  the  rite,  throws 
the  Church  back  in  sacred  memory  to  the  deathless 
love  that  lay  at  the  heart  of  the  Passion  and  the 
Cross.  It  means  that  having  loved  His  own  which 
were  in  the  world.  He  loved  them  unto  the  end.  Our 
Sacrament  is  the  pledge  of  the  enduring  quality  of 
the  Saviour's  love.  It  is  not  any  love  or  faith  or 
constancy  or  hope  in  us  that  Communion  represents. 
It  is  the  offer  of  the  Gospel  set  forth  in  simple  drama, 
the  offer  of  grace  and  salvation  and  peace. 

But  as  we  accept  the  gracious  offer  it  means  a 
tacit  pledge  on  our  part,  a  confession  and  a  promise. 
We  are  parties  to  a  covenant.  It  is  the  plighting  of 
a  troth.  What  have  we  to  offer?  What  can  we  do 
or  be  in  return  for  that  love  unto  the  end?  It  is 
that  we  hold  fast  the  confidence  and  the  rejoicing 
of  our  hope  firm  unto  the  end.  Enduring  faith 
answers  back  to  the  enduring  love.  It  is  a  reasonable 
and  natural  demand.  The  Apostles  felt  it  to  be 
so  when  they  called  on  Christians  to  be  faithful  unto 
death.  Could  they  ask  less  for  such  love  unto  death  ? 
The  result  of  our  contemplation  of  Christ's  love 
should  be  a  firmer  adherence  and  a  stouter  testimony. 


HOPE    TO    THE    END  205 

Christ's  love  reaches  its  true  end  when  it  breeds  such 
faith  in  us;  and  our  faith  too  has  an  end  which  it 
"will  one  day  reach  if  we  are  true.  Meanwhile  there 
is  struggle  and  effort,  a  good  fight  of  faith  which 
has  to  be  waged,  before  we  achieve  the  victory  that 
overcometh  the  world. 

Conquer  we  shall,  but  we  must  first  contend. 
'Tis  not  the  fight  that  crowns  us,  but  the  end. 

Is  it  hard  to  remain  faithful,  hard  to  persist  in 
the  Christian  witness,  hard  to  endure  unto  the  end  ? 
Is  it  hard  even  to  hold  fast  the  confidence  and  the 
hope,  not  to  speak  of  rejoicing  in  the  hope  ?  Is  it 
hard  to  keep  the  vision  from  fading  into  the  common 
light  of  day?  It  is;  but  just  because  we  separate 
ourselves  from  the  unfailing  source  of  strength. 
Endurance  unto  the  end  is  made  possible,  and  even 
made  easy,  because  of  His  love  unto  the  end.  It  is 
turned  into  joy:  the  endurance  is  transmuted  into 
hope.  And  why  should  we  not  trust  unto  the  end 
and  hope  unto  the  end,  since  He  loves  unto  the  end? 
Our  faith  and  hope  depend  on  His  love,  and  His  love 
cannot  fail.  The  foundation  is  stable  and  secure : 
other  foundation  can  no  man  lay  than  that  is  laid, 
which  is  Jesus  Christ.  It  is  what  we  build  on  the 
sure  foundation  that  tests  our  life,  whether  it  be  on 


206  HOPE    TO    THE    END 

the  one  hand,  gold,  silver,  precious  stones ;  or  on  the 
other  hand,  wood,  hay,  stubble.  If  His  love  is  firm 
unto  the  end,  we  may  well  hold  fast  our  confidence 
and  rejoicing  of  hope  also  firm  unto  the  end.  The 
one  is  the  natural  response  of  the  other.  Deep  calls 
to  deep,  the  deep  of  our  need  to  the  deep  of  His 
grace.  Heiglit  answers  height,  the  height  of  our 
faith  to  the  height  of  His  love. 

Our  Sacrament  is  the  pledge  of  God's  love  to  us  in 
Christ ;  and  our  presence  is  the  pledge  of  our  faith- 
fulness. By  these  tokens  He  assures  us  that  He  will 
never  leave  us  nor  forsake  us,  that  He  will  abide 
in  us;  and  as  we  take  the  tokens  we  declare  our- 
selves His  and  that  we  will  abide  in  Him.  It  is 
our  part  of  the  gracious  compact,  our  simple  accept- 
ance of  the  blessed  covenant.  Courage,  confidence, 
hope  spring  up  within  us  as  we  think  of  His  death- 
less love  and  as  we  realise  His  enduring  presence. 
"I  am  with  you  always,  even  unto  the  end  of  the 
world" ;  and  as  long  as  we  never  let  Him  go  we  can 
surely  hold  fast  our  confidence  and  our  hope  firm  unto 
the  end.  He  is  our  hope.  Rooted  and  grounded  in 
Him  no  storm  can  tear  us  from  our  foundation. 
So  long  as  we  abide  in  Him,  we  have  His  life  in  us. 
So  long  as  we  abide  in  Him,  we  cannot  lose  our  hold. 
It  is  He,  as  St.  Paul  declares,  who  shall  also  confirm 


HOPE    TO    THE    END  207 

us  unto  the  end,  that  we  may  be  blameless  in  the  day 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  We  are  His  household  if 
we  hold  fast  the  confidence  and  the  rejoicing  of  our 
hope  firm  unto  the  end. 

Our  faith  is  not  the  condition  of  the  Saviour's  love, 
but  it  is  the  condition  of  our  joyful  participation  in 
His  love.  It  is  not  a  condition  imposed  from  the  out- 
side by  some  despotic  authority,  but  a  condition  in 
the  very  nature  of  the  case.  It  is  not  that  Christ  will 
not  love  unto  the  end  unless  we  are  faithful  unto 
the  end.  It  is  rather  that  such  enduring  love  should 
create  in  us  enduring  faith  and  hope,  if  we  appre- 
hend and  accept  the  love.  The  love  is  there  for  us 
if  we  will,  streaming  over  the  world  like  the  blessed 
sun.  Here  at  the  Table  we  exchange  pledges  and 
tokens.  As  we  take  the  pledge  of  His  love,  we  give 
the  pledge  of  our  faith  and  service.  We  renew  our 
vows,  glad  to  be  of  His  household,  and  pray  that  we 
may  so  abide  in  His  love  that  we  may  hold  fast  the 
confidence  and  the  rejoicing  of  our  hope  firm  unto 
the  end.  Having  loved  His  own  He  loves  them  unto 
the  end ;  and  His  own  offer  the  frail  tribute  of  their 
faith,  and  will  hope  in  Him  unto  the  end. 


XX 

PREVENIENT  GRACE 

Thou  hast  given  him  his  heart's  desire,  and  hast  not  withholden 
the  request  of  his  lips.  For  Thou  preventest  him  with  the  blessings 
of  goodness. — Psalm  xxi.  3. 

This  Psalm  is  a  battle  song,  a  thanksgiving  after  the 
battle.  It  is  full  of  the  glow  of  triumph,  the  exulta- 
tion of  victory.  The  king,  as  representing  the  people 
of  Israel,  had  led  forth  his  army  to  what  the  nation 
conceived  to  be  a  holy  war  waged  on  behalf  of  God's 
cause,  and  so  God  had  been  with  them;  and  now  in 
the  triumph  of  the  return,  the  people  meet  for  praise 
and  thanksgiving.  They  say,  justified  by  the  great 
event:  "The  king  shall  joy  in  Thy  strength,  O  Lord. 
Thou  hast  given  him  his  heart's  desire,  and  hast  not 
withholden  the  request  of  his  lips.  For  Thou  pre- 
ventest him  with  the  blessings  of  goodness." 

There  has  been  a  change  of  meaning  in  the  word 
prevent  since  our  English  translation;  or  rather  as 
so  often  happens  in  the  history  of  words  the  meaning 
has  taken  on  a  different  colour.     "Prevent"  means 

208 


PREVENIENT   GRACE  209 

simply  to  go  before,  and  in  the  sense  of  our  text 
meant  to  go  before  in  order  to  help,  to  clear  the  way 
of  difficulties,  to  anticipate,  and  prepare  for  the  per- 
son following.  We  can  see  this  sense  in  the  beautiful 
old  English  collect:  "Prevent  us,  O  Lord,  in  all  our 
doing  with  Thy  most  gracious  favour,  and  further 
us  with  Thy  continual  help."  Or  in  the  CXIX 
Psalm  where  the  Psalmist  says:  "I  prevented  the 
dawning  of  the  morning  and  cried,  I  hoped  in  Thy 
word.  Mine  eyes  prevent  the  night  watches,  that 
I  might  meditate  in  Thy  word" ;  meaning  I  antici- 
pate with  joy,  go  forward  in  imagination  to  be  ready 
morning  and  evening  to  meditate  on  God.  We  can 
see  how  the  more  modern  sense  of  the  word  should 
have  usurped  the  whole  place,  so  that  it  has  come 
to  mean  going  before  not  to  help  but  to  hinder,  to 
disappoint,  to  anticipate  in  order  to  check  and  frus- 
trate and  impede.  But  God's  preventing,  of  which 
the  Psalmist  speaks,  means  His  going  before  not  in 
order  to  put  obstacles  in  our  way,  but  to  remove 
them,  and  to  put  in  their  place  the  blessings  of 
goodness. 

There  is  in  theology  a  term,  still  used,  prevenient 
grace,  meaning  the  grace  which  acts  on  a  sinner 
hefore  repentance  inducing  him  to  repent,  the  grace 
by  which  he  attains  faith  and  receives  power  to  will 


210  PREVENIENT    GRACE 

the  good.  Milton,  when  describing  the  repentance  of 
Adam  and  Eve  in  Paradise  Lost,  when  they  con- 
fessed their  sin  and  prayed  for  forgiveness,  puts  it: 

Thus  they  in  lowliest  plight  repentant  stood 
Praying  ;  for  from  the  mercy  seat  above 
Prevenient  grace  descending  had  removed 
The  stony  from  their  hearts,  and  made  new  flesh 
Regenerate  grow  instead. 

But  we  must  not  limit  God's  prevenient  grace  to  the 
act  of  repentance,  to  the  steps  which  lead  up  to  the 
consciousness  of  sonship  with  God.  When  we  do 
awaken  to  that  consciousness  we  will,  like  the 
Psalmist,  look  back  and  see  how  God  has  been,  in 
all  the  past,  leading,  guiding,  guarding,  shepherding 
us,  preventing,  going  before  us  with  the  blessings  of 
goodness.  We  have  taken  our  place  in  the  world, 
entering  in  helplessness  into  the  country  and  society 
and  family  where  we  were  born — and  if  we  have  any 
faith  at  all  we  feel  it  is  our  place,  the  place  prepared 
for  us,  the  place  allotted  to  us,  in  which  to  serve  God 
and  do  His  will  as  we  shall  be  enlightened  by  con- 
science and  duty.  We  entered  into  life  not  only 
at  a  certain  place  of  the  world's  history,  but  also 
at  a  certain  stage,  in  a  certain  year  of  grace,  and 
if  we  have  any  faith  at  all,  we  feel  that  it  is  our 
time,  a  time  prepared  for  us.    It  was  a  year  of  grace 


PREVENIENT    GRACE  211 

in  more  senses  than  we  usually  mean  by  the  phrase ; 
and  all  the  years  before  it  were  years  of  grace  to  us, 
the  prevenient  grace  of  God. 

How  little  we  have  done  to  mould  our  own  lives; 
how  much  has  been  done  for  us.  What  have  we  that 
we  have  not  received?  Behind  us  lie  the  labours 
and  sufferings  and  sacrifices  of  the  noblest,  and  we 
have  entered  into  their  labours.  We  have  a  rich 
inheritance,  which  can  be  only  described  as  the  bless- 
ings of  goodness.  The  tree  of  our  life  has  its  roots 
deep  in  the  soil  and  the  subsoil  of  history.  We  are 
not  only  the  heirs  of  all  the  ages,  but  the  heirs  of 
God's  grace  through  all  the  ages.  God's  providence 
is  only  another  name  for  God's  grace,  and  His  provi- 
dence did  not  begin  to  us  merely  at  the  hour  of  birth. 
Every  prophet,  and  every  man  of  faith,  have  felt  in 
some  degree  at  some  time  of  intense  insight  that 
they  have  been  under  a  foreordaining,  a  loving 
purpose  before  birth,  before  history,  from  the  very 
foundation  of  the  world.  God's  grace  began  with 
him  long  before  he  was  born,  and  prepared  his  place 
for  him,  and  went  before  him  with  the  blessings  of 
goodness.  Time  would  fail  for  any  of  us  to  tell  all 
that  we  owe  to  the  past,  all  the  debt  in  which  we 
stand  to  preceding  generations,  not  only  for  temporal 
mercies,  but  even  for  the  very  intellectual  and  spirit- 


212  PREVENIENT    GRACE 

ual  atmosphere  into  which  we  have  been  born,  and 
in  which  we  have  been  reared.  We  have  a  spiritual 
climate,  as  well  as  a  geographical ;  and  in  it  we  have 
had  our  place  prepared  for  us.  The  blessings  of 
God's  goodness  have  gone  before  us,  and  can  in  many 
lines  be  clearly  seen  by  every  enlightened  mind  and 
conscience  and  heart.  The  liberty  we  enjoy  politic- 
ally and  religiously  has  been  bought  and  paid  for  by 
others.  The  knowledge  which  we  hold  so  cheap  was 
dearly  acquired  by  the  race.  Every  advance  in  social 
organisation,  which  is  to  us  now  as  our  birthright, 
was  attained  at  great  cost. 

Individually,  also,  in  the  growth  and  education  of 
our  best  life,  we  must  acknowledge  our  manifold 
indebtedness.  A  nest  was  carefully  made  for  us, 
and  provision  was  lovingly  prepared ;  and  surely  in 
it  all  we  recognise  the  gracious  providence  of  God. 
Can  we  estimate  aright  what  we  personally  owe  to 
parents,  teachers,  pastors,  friends?  The  purest- 
minded  of  all  pagans  and  all  emperors  devotes  the 
whole  of  the  first  book  of  his  Meditations  to  a  grate- 
ful consideration  of  all  that  he  owed  to  others  in  his 
youth.  Such  humble  gratitude  is  the  mark  of  a  great 
soul.  He  goes  over  the  list  of  all  who  helped  him 
by  counsel  or  example.  "The  example  of  my  grand- 
father, Verus,  gave  me  a  good  disposition,  notjirone 


PREVENIENT    GRACE  213 

to  anger.  By  the  recollection  of  my  father's  char- 
acter, I  learned  to  be  both  modest  and  manly.  My 
mother  taught  me  to  have  regard  for  religion,  to  be 
generous  and  open-handed.  The  philosopher  Sextus 
recommended  good-humour  to  me.  Alexander  the 
Grammarian  taught  me  not  to  be  finically  critical 
about  words.  I  learned  from  Catulus  not  to  slight  a 
friend  for  making  a  remonstrance."  And  so  on 
through  a  long  list  of  benefits  which  his  sweet  hum- 
ble mind  acknowledged,  finishing  up  with:  "I  have 
to  thank  the  gods  that  my  grandfathers,  parents, 
sister,  preceptors,  relations,  friends,  and  domestics 
were  almost  all  of  them  persons  of  probity."  When 
we  know  what  much  of  Roman  society  of  the  time 
was,  and  the  character  of  some,  even  of  the  men  he 
mentions,  as  history  records  it,  we  see  that  he  laid 
hold  of  the  good,  and  took  it  as  a  divine  intention 
for  him.  Have  we  not  cause  to  thank  God  that  He 
gave  us  the  opportunities  we  have  had,  gave  us  the 
environment  we  needed  ?  We  may  have  misused  the 
chances,  lost  them  or  slighted  them,  but  at  least  they 
were  given  us.  Can  we  not  see  that  God  has  been  in 
the  past  preventing  us  with  the  blessings  of  goodness  ? 
All  through  life,  as  well  as  in  the  beginning,  is 
not  the  same  true,  if  only  we  will  look  back  over 
the  way  by  which  we  have  come  ?     Every  joy  that 


214  PREVENIENT   GRACE 

has  come  to  us,  every  gift  of  human  love,  every  bless- 
ing of  our  lot,  every  glory  of  our  life,  are  they  not 
all  of  grace,  tokens  from  our  bountiful  Father,  who 
giveth  liberally  and  upbraideth  not?  And  even  in 
the  things  that  were  full  of  darkness,  the  things  hard 
to  understand,  the  very  sorrows,  and  disappointments, 
when  the  light  of  life  seemed  quenched,  have  we  not 
lived  to  see  how  purposeful  they  were,  and  how  full 
of  grace  and  lovingkindness  ?  We  have  had  many  a 
Bethel  in  our  journey,  unregarded  at  the  time,  when 
we  wakened  to  the  meaning  of  some  providence  and 
could  say :  "Surely  God  was  in  this  place,  and  I  knew 
it  not  ?" 

More  than  once  it  has  seemed  to  us  that  God's  pre- 
venting has  been  a  going  before  us  to  hinder  and  not 
to  help.  Obstacles  have  been  put  in  our  way,  where 
we  looked  for  a  plain  and  easy  path.  We  have  been 
thwarted  in  our  dearest  auabitions ;  the  desire  of  our 
hearts  has  not  been  given  us ;  the  request  of  our  lips 
has  been  withholden.  It  has  really  been  a  pre- 
venting, in  the  modern  sense  of  the  word,  in  our 
experience.  We  have  been  kept  to  a  narrow  corner 
of  life,  when  we  expected  a  larger  outlet.  We  have 
been  hindered  and  hampered  by  circumstances.  And 
sometimes  it  was  hard  to  see  that  God  was  in  it  all, 
going  before  us  with  the  blessings  of  goodness.     Our 


PREVENIENT    GRACE  215 

lives  have  been  turned  into  lines  that  we  little  ex- 
pected, and  it  is  natural  to  think  that  if  we  had  been 
allowed  to  go  on  in  ways  of  our  own  choosing  we 
could  have  made  so  much  more  of  ourselves.  But 
the  more  we  know  ourselves  and  the  deceitfulness  of 
our  hearts,  the  more  will  we  be  distrustful  of  what 
we  would  have  been  and  done  if  we  had  ever  given 
to  us  the  desire  of  our  eyes.  On  looking  back,  we 
can  say  honestly  that  some  of  the  times  we  have  been 
prevented  for  our  good.  It  may  be  that  we  have  been 
delivered  from  evil  by  being  kept  out  of  temptation. 
Opportunities  have  been  taken  from  us,  and  now  we 
see  that  they  would  have  been  to  us  opportunities 
of  evil.  We  can  point  to  this  place  and  to  that  in 
our  life's  history  where  we  have  been  kept  from 
wrong  by  being  kept  from  the  opportunity.  We  know 
now  that  we  could  not  have  stood  the  test  of  the 
thing  for  the  loss  of  which  we  grieved.  What  we  in 
blindness  called  hindering  has  been  really  helping. 
God's  preventing  of  us  was  by  the  blessings  of 
goodness. 

Faith  is  of  a  piece.  It  believes  about  the  future 
what  it  believes  about  the  past;  for  God  to  it  is  the 
same  yesterday,  to-day,  and  for  ever.  We  cannot  live 
by  faith  now,  and  look  forward  to  the  fruition  of 
faith  in  the  days  to  come,  unless  we  also  interpret 


216  PREVENIENT    GRACE 

the  past  by  faith.  God's  dealings  with  us  are  con- 
sistent. There  is  no  break  in  His  providence.  His 
grace  is  not  intermittent.  It  is  prevenient,  as  well 
as  present.  If  wc  have  faith  enough  now  to  look 
forward  and  to  say,  "Surely  goodness  and  mercy 
shall  follow  me  all  the  days  of  my  life,"  we  must  on 
the  same  principle  be  able  to  look  back  and  to  say: 
"Surely  goodness  and  mercy  have  preceded  me  all 
the  days  of  my  life." 

The  grace  which  we  to-day  celebrate  is  the  grace 
which  has  accompanied  us  all  the  time,  the  grace  of 
God  our  Saviour.  We  are  no  strangers  to  it.  We 
gratefully  and  joyfully  acknowledge  it.  When  we 
look  back  with  eyes  sharpened  with  love  we  can  trace 
its  constant  dealings  with  us,  never  leaving  us,  never 
forsaking  us.  The  confidence  we  possess  to-day  is  a 
confidence  grounded  on  the  facts  of  previous  expe- 
rience. Our  future  may  be  obscure;  we  may  not 
be  able  to  see  very  far  ahead  a  clear  path  for  our 
feet ;  but  we  know  already  what  it  is  to  walk  by  faith 
when  sight  has  failed  us.  Difficulties  may  even  at 
this  moment  loom  before  us;  but  there  have  often 
been  difiiculties  in  our  lives  which  when  we  went  up 
to  them  vanished  as  if  some  one  had  gone  before  us 
and  cleared  the  way,  like  the  women  who  went  on 
their  loving  errand  to  the  sepulchre  of  their  dear 


PREVENIENT    GRACE  217 

Master  very  early  in  the  morning,  with  sinking 
hearts,  saying,  in  despair:  "Who  shall  roll  away  the 
stone  from  the  door  of  the  sepulchre  ?  And  when 
they  looked  they  saw  that  the  stone  was  rolled  away." 
The  mysterious  providences  of  God  to  us — let  us 
joyfully  confess  it — have  not  all  been  of  sorrow  and 
disappointment.  They  have  often  been  surprises  of 
deliverance,  miracles  of  grace  and  lovingkindness. 
We  expected  to  be  stopped,  as  the  women  did,  by 
some  unsurmountable  obstacle,  but  when  we  came  up 
to  it  we  saw  our  way  past,  and  even  when  it  seemed 
to  block  the  way  utterly  we  were  enabled  to  make  it 
a  stepping-stone  to  higher  things.  What  peace  this 
thought  should  give  us,  that  God's  j^rovidence  has 
been  about  us  all  along,  and  has  been  before  us,  pre- 
paring a  place  for  us;  that  our  Good  Shepherd  has 
led  us,  and  will  lead  us — no  matter  where  if  onlj^ 
He  be  with  us.  God's  mercy  has  been  ready  for  us 
new  every  morning,  and  no  morning  can  dawn  but 
that  it  shall  be  there  waiting  for  us.  Duty  becomes 
easy  with  such  overshadowing  love ;  the  future  loses 
all  terror.  What  can  the  future  be  but  safe  and 
sure,  if  God  is  preceding  us  with  the  blessings  of 
goodness  ? 

Even  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death  cannot 
bring  evil.     The  love  which  illumined  all  the  day  of 


218  PREVENIENT   GRACE 

life  to  us  shall  make  our  hcd  in  dying,  and  in  the 
eventide  it  shall  also  bo  light.  Prevcnient  grace  will 
not  cease  at  death.  Our  faith  fails  not  even  here, 
and  tells  us  that  God  goes  before  us  with  the  bless- 
ings of  goodness.  "I  go,"  said  the  Master,  "to  pre- 
pare a  place  for  you."  The  forethought  of  love  can 
never  be  exhausted.  Our  place  has  ever  been  pre- 
pared for  us,  and  ever  shall  be, 

Yea,  and  past  gates  of  death  and  birth, 
And  the  lost  memory  of  the  earth. 

He  has  prepared  our  place  for  us  at  His  Table. 
The  broken  bread  and  the  pourcd-out  wine  are  sym- 
bols of  that  love  in  its  culmination,  tokens  of  the 
deathless  love  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus.  We  take 
these  signs  of  the  love  by  which  we  live,  the  love 
which  is  better  than  life.  We  in  this  simple  form 
once  more  give  our  hearts  to  that  love,  comforting 
and  strengthening  ourselves  by  it.  Should  we  not 
make  this  Communion  a  holy  Eucharist  to  ourselves, 
a  Thanksgiving,  humbly  praising  God  for  His  mercy 
and  His  grace.  Take  this  rite  to  represent,  as  it 
does,  the  Love  of  God  our  Saviour,  and  what  more 
natural  than  that  we  should  make  it  an  occasion  of 
grateful,  joyous  praise  ?  Can  we  not  use  the  words 
of  the  Psalmist  with  even  larger  meaning :  "We  shall 


PREVENIENT   GRACE  219 

joy  in  Thy  strength,  O  Lord;  and  in  Thy  salvation 
how  greatly  shall  we  rejoice.  Thou  hast  given  us 
the  desire  of  our  hearts,  and  hast  not  withholden  the 
request  of  our  lips.  For  Thou  preventest  us  with 
the  blessings  of  goodness"  i 


XXI 
HUMILITY; 

Then  went  King  David  in  and  sat  before  tJie  Lord,  and  he  said, 
Who  am  I,  0  Lord  God  ?  and  what  is  my  house  that  Thou  hast 
brought  me  hitherto  ? — 2  Samuel  vii.  18. 

"In  the  complexity  of  its  elements,"  says  Dean 
Stanley,  "passion,  tenderness,  generosity,  fierceness 
— the  soldier,  the  shepherd,  the  poet,  the  statesman, 
the  priest,  the  prophet,  the  king — the  romantic 
friend,  the  chivalrous  leader,  the  devoted  father — 
there  is  no  character  of  the  Old  Testament  at  all  to 
be  compared  to  that  of  David."  All  that  explains  his 
greatness,  the  perennial  interest  of  his  name  and 
story,  and  why  in  all  succeeding  generations  in  Israel 
he  was  looked  back  on  as  their  typical  king  and  his 
time  as  the  golden  age.  But  in  that  catalogue  of 
the  elements  of  his  many-sided  character  there  is 
omitted  a  quality  which  gave  balance  and  beauty  to 
his  character — a  real  humility.  Men  loved  him  for 
it  from  his  youth ;  and  it  was  the  quality  more  than 
any  other  which  made  him  a  man  after  God's  own 

230 


HUMILITY  221 

heart.  He  had  a  humble  frankness  and  sweet  sim- 
plicity of  nature  that  were  never  quite  spoiled  even 
in  his  times  of  degeneracy.  We  can  well  understand 
why  he  should  be  a  popular  hero  when  we  think  of 
so  many  words  and  deeds  of  his  touched  with  this 
strain  of  sincere  humility.  It  is  an  attractive  grace 
in  a  great  man  that  makes  ready  appeal  to  men's 
hearts.  Such  a  story,  for  example,  as  that  of  the 
well  of  Bethlehem,  explains  how  he  held  men  in 
thrall  by  the  way  he  rose  to  an  occasion,  when  he 
poured  out  the  water  got  at  the  risk  of  men's  lives 
to  satisfy  a  whim  of  his.  His  nobility  of  nature  was 
touched,  and  also  his  hmnility:  Who  am  I  that  I 
should  drink  such  precious  drink?  It  is  the  blood 
of  the  men  that  went  in  the  jeopardy  of  life. 

And  the  religious  significance  of  his  reign  lies 
along  the  line  of  the  same  fine  quality.  It  is  the 
evangelical  meaning,  so  to  speak,  of  his  kingdom. 
He  was  not  an  ordinary  Oriental  despot,  though  he 
sometimes  sinned  the  sins  of  such.  He  held  his 
throne  from  God,  and  knew  that  he  so  held  it.  His 
reign  was  great  religiously,  because  it  always  sug- 
gests recognition  of,  and  obedience  to,  a  higher  Will 
and  higher  Law.  David,  though  king,  is  not  absolute 
in  power,  never  claims  to  be  irresponsible,  admits 
the  right  to  be  taken  to  task,  rebuked,  judged  by  a 


HUMILITY 

prophet.  Saul's  failure  and  David's  success  are  here 
indicated;  and  in  essence  it  came  to  this,  that  Saul 
was  rejected  for  pride,  and  David  was  received  for 
humility.  He  looked  ujion  himself  as  viceregent  for 
God.  He  had  lapses  and  falls  and  covered  his  life 
with  many  sorrows ;  but  always  there  was  this  saving 
grace  of  an  innate  humility  that  kept  his  heart  green 
and  saved  him  from  ever  being  a  castaway.  There 
was  ever  a  spot  where  he  could  be  got  at,  where  he 
could  be  brought  back  to  his  better  self,  and  brought 
back  to  God. 

In  illustration  of  all  this,  one  of  the  most  remark- 
able things  in  the  story  of  David  is  the  way  in  which 
he  yielded  to  the  guidance  and  reproof  of  God's 
prophets.  His  attitude  of  humble  praise  on  this 
occasion  of  our  text,  when  ISTathan  predicted  the 
perpetual  dominion  of  his  house,  is  typical  of  his 
temper  at  all  such  times.  Some  of  the  times  were 
hard  to  endure  and  to  curb  the  spirit.  When  the 
prophet  came  to  speak  of  doom  for  sin,  David,  in- 
stead of  bursting  into  passion  or  standing  on  his 
dignity,  melted  into  confession  and  repentance  and 
humble  tears.  It  is  the  selfsame  temper  as  is  here 
revealed  in  this  hour  of  sunshine.  Here  when  the 
prophet  tells  him  of  God's  design  for  Israel  through 
his  royal  house,  how  He  will  establish  the  throne  of 


HUMILITY  223 

his  kingdom,  the  story  reads:  "Then  went  King 
David  in  and  sat  before  the  Lord,  and  he  said,  Who 
am  I,  O  Lord  God  ?  and  what  is  my  house  that  Thou 
hast  brought  me  hitherto?"  Instead  of  creating 
pride  and  vanity,  as  it  would  in  a  smaller,  meaner 
soul,  it  crushes  him  to  the  dust,  makes  him  feel  his 
unworthiness,  and  melts  his  heart  with  sweet  humil- 
ity. He  never  forgot  that  God  took  him  from  fol- 
lowing the  sheep  to  be  ruler  over  His  people,  and 
that  all  he  was  and  had  were  of  God's  appointing. 
And  every  fresh  proof  of  goodness  came  as  a  new 
call  to  humility:  Who  am  I,  and  what  is  my  house, 
that  Thou  hast  brought  me  to  this  ? 

Some  men  are  made  humble  through  prosperity. 
With  many,  perhaps  with  most,  it  is  the  other  way. 
They  grow  proud  and  vainglorious  and  arrogant  and 
self-confident  under  continued  prosperity.  A  great 
advancement  is  accepted  as  a  great  acknowledgment 
of  their  merit.  A  signal  favour  is  a  signal  proof  of 
their  high  desert.  Uninterrupted  prosperity  does 
often  soften  and  enervate ;  but  it  need  not  be  so, 
and  should  not  be  so,  to  a  spiritually-minded  man. 
To  the  sweet  and  dutiful  heart  its  first  message  is 
of  God,  His  love  and  goodness;  and  prosperity  is 
accepted  humbly  and  gratefully.  It  should  humble 
him,  make  him  more  tender  of  heart,  more  suscepti- 


224  HUMILITY 

ble  to  spiritual  influence;  for  be  knows  how  it  is  of 
the  Lord's  mercy,  that  but  for  the  grace  of  God  he 
would  be  nothing.  St.  Paul  tells  us  that  the  good- 
ness of  God  should  lead  us  to  repentance,  the  thought 
of  God's  daily  patience  with  us  and  lovingkindness 
new  every  morning,  should  make  the  heart  soft. 
Some  men  blossom  out  to  richness  and  beauty  of  life 
under  prosperity,  as  flowers  grow  in  the  sunshine. 
Surely  there  are  some  who  are  being  led  to  repent- 
ance and  heart-searching  and  growth  in  grace,  by  a 
sense  of  the  goodness  of  God;  some  who  are  being 
made  sweet  and  humble  of  disposition  by  the  con- 
stant thought  of  God's  tender  mercies  towards  them ; 
who  ask  after  every  fresh  indication  of  favour :  ''Who 
am  I  and  what  is  my  house  that  Thou  hast  brought 
me  to  this?"  Happiness  should  not  sejDarate  the 
soul  of  man  from  God,  if  it  be  accepted  humbly  as 
from  His  loving  hand  and  loving  heart.  It  should 
make  a  man  praise  God  for  His  goodness,  and  make 
him  walk  softly  and  gently  all  his  days. 

Yet,  how  rare  is  this  humble  attitude  of  heart, 
gratefully  accepting  the  unmerited  blessing  and  un- 
deserved favour  of  God.  Our  common  attitude  is 
exactly  the  opposite.  We  take  things  as  a  matter  of 
course,  all  the  gifts  of  Providence  and  grace,  all 
the  blessings  of  our  lives,  all  we  have  inherited  and 


HUMILITY  225 

possess  and  enjoy,  knowledge  and  beauty  and  love 
and  friendship.  We  seem  to  think  that  the  common 
things  are  somehow  not  gifts  of  God  because  they 
are  common.  Even  in  religion  w^e  take  everything 
for  granted,  accepting  lovingkindness  new  every 
morning  and  faithfulness  with  us  every  night,  just  as 
our  due,  without  a  thought  of  gratitude.  We  are 
wronged  and  badly  treated  if  we  have  not  the  wind 
to  our  mind.  An  ache  or  pain  calls  forth  a  lament; 
and  all  the  joy  and  light  and  beauty  of  years  go  for 
nothing  in  our  mind  before  this  all-important  ache. 
What  have  I  done  that  I  should  suffer  this  ?  Why 
should  I  know  pain  or  sorrow,  and  others  escape  ? 
Who  is  David,  and  what  is  his  house,  that  he  should 
receive  so  much  ?  Who  am  I  that  I  should  be  passed 
over?  We  take  all  good  as  our  due,  as  only  our 
desert,  and  every  ill  as  a  desperate  evil,  as  if  we 
were  marked  out  for  the  slings  and  arrows  of  out- 
rageous fortune. 

We  do  not  cultivate  the  thankful  heart.  When  you 
have  told  over  again  for  the  hundredth  time  your 
tale  of  sorrows  and  complaints,  is  there  not  also  a 
'per  contra?  Count  up  your  blessings  for  a  change, 
all  the  things  in  your  past  and  present  and  for  the 
future  for  which  you  have  cause  to  thank  God.  Tell 
the  tale  of  mercies.     Consider  daily  grace.     And 


226  HUMILITY 

should  not  our  attitude  every  day  be  one  of  thankful 
praise  and  humble  gratitude — Who  am  I  after  all 
that  I  should  be  so  blessed  ?  Who  am  I  and  what  is 
my  house  that  Thou  hast  brought  me  hitherto?  It 
is  related  of  an  African  chief  who  visited  England 
recently,  and  who  was  taken  to  court  and  was  at 
the  king's  levee,  when  he  was  asked  what  he  thought 
of  it,  what  was  his  deepest  impression  of  the  court, 
that  he  said :  "I  was  most  of  all  surprised  to  see  my- 
self there."  It  was  a  fine  answer  and  revealed  a 
fine  and  hopeful  temper  of  mind. 

But  it  is  more  than  an  attractive  grace,  very  win- 
ning in  a  man's  character.  This  attitude  of  David  is 
the  attitude  which  right  through  the  Bible  is  de- 
manded as  of  the  essence  of  religion.  It  puts  a 
man  in  the  evangelical  and  spiritual  succession.  Tho 
opposite  of  this  puts  a  man  out  of  the  great  line, 
whatever  be  his  other  claims  and  graces.  Pride  is 
the  first  of  the  seven  deadly  sins.  It  may  well  be 
put  first,  because  where  it  is  all  the  other  sins  can 
easily  follow.  Humility  is  the  chief  of  the  virtues, 
because  apart  from  it  none  of  them  can  grow  to  full 
beauty  and  power.  It  is  the  beginning  of  wisdom; 
the  threshold  of  grace;  the  very  doorway  of  the 
Kingdom  itself;  the  good  ground  ready  for  the  seed 
that  will  bear  fruit,  some  an  hundredfold.     It  was 


HUMILITY  227 

of  this  humble-mindedness  and  simple-heartedness 
the  Master  spoke  when  He  made  little  children  typi- 
cal of  His  Kingdom.  The  Lord  Himself  was  meek 
and  lowly  in  heart ;  and  this  we  have  to  learn  of  Him 
if  we  would  find  rest  unto  our  souls.  It  is  not  an 
affectation,  a  pose,  or  a  matter  of  words  saying,  in 
mock  modesty.  Who  am  I  that  Thou  hast  brought 
me  to  this,  but  these  words  must  represent  a  real 
state  of  soul  before  we  can  see  the  Kingdom. 

If  further  proof  were  needed  that  this  runs  through 
the  Bible,  woven  into  the  web  of  the  history  of 
grace,  notice  how  much  St.  Paul  made  of  this  evan- 
gelical humility.  The  Gospel,  he  taught,  is  to  be 
received  thus,  and  only  thus  can  be  received,  of  God's 
mercy  not  of  man's  merit,  of  grace  not  of  works  lest 
any  man  should  boast.  What  is  the  great  Pauline 
doctrine  of  justification  by  faith  but  another  way 
of  stating  this  same  thing?  If  we  have  faith,  it  is 
because  He  has  revealed  His  Son  in  us.  If  we  have 
love,  it  is  because  He  first  loved  us.  If  we  have 
hope,  it  is  because  He  is  made  to  us  hope.  Redemp- 
tion comes  with  the  sense  of  wonder  and  awe,  of 
unfathomable  love  on  God's  part,  of  undeserved 
favour.  "By  the  grace  of  God  I  am  what  I  am," 
said  St.  Paul,  and  the  word  and  spirit  of  it  are  in 
direct  lineal  descent  from  this  word  of  David  and 


228  HUMILITY 

the  spirit  that  breathed  through  it  of  humble  thanks- 
giving: "Who  am  I,  O  Lord  God,  and  what  is  my 
house,  that  Thou  hast  brought  me  hitherto  ?" 

This  is  our  Thanksgiving  Service  after  Commun- 
ion, and  what  more  fitting  tone  should  characterise 
it  than  this  of  grateful  praise  ?  We  must  feel  in  the 
presence  of  such  love  as  Communion  represents  that 
we  have  no  standing  except  of  grace.  All  our  merits 
and  works  wither,  as  all  earthborn  lights  wither  in 
the  blaze  of  the  sunshine.  We  get  past  all  thought 
of  worthiness;  for  we  know  there  can  be  no  talk  on 
that  basis.  We  are  not  worthy  that  He  should  come 
under  our  roof.  We  are  not  worthy  to  eat  the  crumbs 
from  His  Table.  And  yet  He  brought  us  into  His 
Banqueting-house,  gave  us  to  eat  the  bread  of  life 
and  to  drink  the  wine  of  His  love.  When  we  have 
said  all,  we  just  come  back  to  the  mystery  of  redeem- 
ing love,  and  we  bow  in  humble,  adoring  praise  be- 
fore our  Father  in  heaven. 

We  have  said  that  one  of  our  temptations  is  to 
live  taking  all  the  good  gifts  of  Providence  for 
granted  as  our  due.  We  sometimes  even  live  taking 
Christ  for  granted — never  once  moved  by  His  life 
and  love,  never  once  broken  by  the  passion  of  His 
Cross.  But  if  we  see  aright  the  love  that  went  to 
death  for  us  men  and  for  our  salvation ;  if  we  under- 


HUMILITY  229 

stand  the  sweet  condescension  and  gracious  love  of 
God  of  this  Communion  Sabbath  day,  the  word  that 
will  express  our  grateful,  responsive  love  is  David's 
word:  "Who  am  I,  O  Lord  God,  that  Thou  hast 
brought  me  hither?"  Amid  the  love  and  joy  and 
peace  and  plenty  of  the  Table  of  the  Lord — I  was 
most  of  all  surprised  to  see  myself  there. 


XXII 

FEAR  AND  LOVE 

There  is  no  fear  in  love :  but  perfect  love  casteth  out  fear,  because 
fear  hatli  torment  {punishment,  R.  V.)  ;  and  he  tliat  fearethis  not 
made  perfect  in  love. — 1  John  iv.  18. 

The  test  of  the  new  birth  to  St.  John,  the  test  of 
being  begotten  of  God  and  even  of  knowing  God,  is  a 
simple  one :  namely,  whether  Godlike  love  is  in  our 
hearts.  To  him  the  line  of  cleavage  which  divides 
men  is  revealed  by  the  question  whether  they  rule 
their  lives  by  selfishness  or  by  love.  The  task  of  self- 
examination,  to  which  he  sets  us,  is  to  find  out  the 
root  principle  of  our  hearts,  the  fundamental  ground 
from  which  the  whole  life  starts.  Whatever  be  the 
fine  distinctions  which  separate  men,  a  broad  classi- 
fication is  easily  reached  by  finding  out  the  motive 
power  which  drives  the  life.  There  are  two  oppos- 
ing energies  in  the  spiritual  world,  and  these  are  set 
forth  by  St.  John  as  love  or  selfishness. 

One  has  its  birth  from  God,  and  is  linked  on  to 
the  nature  of  God,  and  to  possess  that  divine  attri- 

280 


FEARANDLOVE  231 

bvite  is  to  have  the  whole  being,  and  therefore  the 
whole  life,  linked  on  to  the  divine.  "Love  is  of  God ; 
and  every  one  that  loveth  is  born  of  God,  and  know- 
eth  God.  He  that  loveth  not,  knoweth  not  God ;  for 
God  is  love."  The  lesson  of  life  is  love:  the  test 
of  life  is  love :  the  task  of  life  is  the  perfecting  of 
love.  Life  blossoms  into  its  natural  fruition  in  love, 
as  a  flower  blossoms  in  light.  To  dwell  in  love  is 
to  dwell  in  God  and  to  have  God  dwelling  in  us. 
And  one  result  of  love  made  perfect  is  absence  of 
fear,  confidence  that  both  here  and  hereafter  no  real 
evil  can  overtake  us.  To  be  in  God,  to  be  as  Christ 
is,  must  mean  safety.  The  future,  be  it  what  it  may, 
can  have  no  terrors  to  the  soul  that  is  in  the  cleft 
of  the  Rock.  To  live  in  love  is  to  be  like  Christ ;  to 
be  like  Christ  is  to  inherit  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven : 
where  is  there  room  for  punishment  or  for  the  dread 
of  it?  "The  Lord  is  my  Light  and  my  salvation; 
whom  shall  I  fear  ?  Tlie  Lord  is  the  strength  of  my 
life;  of  whom  shall  I  be  afraid?"  The  day  of  life 
is  passed  with  a  calm  and  cheerful  heart;  the  day 
of  death  is  welcomed  sweetly  and  expectantly  as 
having  only  more  loving  and  gracious  surprises  in 
store ;  the  day  of  judgment  is  met  boldly  and  confi- 
dently, because  as  Christ  is,  so  is  the  soul  that  is  in 
Christ.     Fear,  which  blights  life  and  darkens  death, 


232  FEAR    AND    LOVE 

is  killed  by  love,  as  the  cloud  is  dispersed  by  the  sun- 
shine. Under  this  dispensation  of  love  man  is  no 
longer  governed  by  rewards  and  punishments,  and  is 
no  longer  oppressed  by  the  torment  of  fear,  "There 
is  no  fear  in  love ;  but  perfect  love  casteth  out  fear, 
because  fear  hath  punishment."  Perfect  peace  is 
the  fruit  of  the  perfect  love.  Humble,  trustful,  and 
yet  triumphant  life  is  the  portion,  and  the  portion 
for  ever.  A  fearless,  confident,  undaunted  life,  pos- 
sessed of  the  present,  assured  of  the  future,  with  no 
misgiving  or  tremor  of  doubt,  walking  with  sure 
and  certain  tread  under  the  silent  stars  and  over 
the  silent  graves,  facing  the  Beyond  as  the  dawning 
of  a  glad,  confident  morning.  It  is  the  dream  of  the 
perfect  life,  the  harvest  of  the  perfect  love. 

On  the  other  side  of  John's  antithesis  is  the  self- 
ish life,  individual  in  its  schems  of  things,  concerned 
with  getting,  consumed  with  the  unappeasable  fire  of 
desire,  seemingly  laying  firmer  hands  on  the  world 
and  planting  itself  more  broadly  and  stably — ^but 
doomed  to  failure,  outside  of  the  life  of  God,  outside 
of  the  true  life  even  of  men,  spiritually  alone.  Fear 
is  its  portion,  and  its  portion  for  ever.  Love  made 
perfect  reaches  out  into  fullness  of  life,  a  bold  and 
buoyant  life,  with  no  boding  of  terror,  but  selfish- 
ness made  perfect  spells  fear.    Its  logical  conclusion 


FEAR    AND    LOVE  233 

is  the  Ishmaelite  type  of  life,  a  band  against  every 
man's,  and  every  man's  hand  against  his.  Peace  is 
an  impossibility.  Suspicion  and  distrust  are  the  at- 
mosphere it  breathes.  The  selfish  life  cannot  look 
forward  with  calm  confidence  to  the  future ;  for  it 
has  not  laid  up  treasure  there.  A  loveless,  Godless 
life  lacks  security.  Its  doom  is  itself,  its  narrow 
prison  growing  narrower  and  more  of  a  prison  as  the 
material  interests  decrease.  The  kingdom  of  fear 
has  no  future  for  its  citizens.  And  even  in  the  pres- 
ent fear  hath  punishment.  It  ever  tastes  it  in 
anticipation.  It  is  its  own  scourge.  The  selfish  life 
lives  under  a  reign  of  terror.  A  life  without  God, 
a  life  without  love,  gyrating  round  on  its  own  pitiful 
axis,  excluding  itself  from  the  Garden  of  the  Lord, 
from  the  Eden  of  man.  It  is  the  awful  vision 
of  the  failure  of  life. 

Fear  and  love — these  are  the  two  great  motives  of 
the  world,  the  master-motives  of  man.  They  are  the 
two  great  forces  which  have  built  up  human  history, 
and  given  all  our  institutions  a  place,  and  even  devel- 
oped life  itself.  'Now  although  they  are  here  op- 
posed to  each  other  and  used  to  represent  the  two 
alternatives  before  man,  yet  it  must  not  be  forgotten 
that  they  are  so  only  in  relation  to  each  other.  They 
are  both  natural,  and  both  have  had,  and  have,  their 


234  FEAR    AND    LOVE 

scope  and  function  in  human  education.  They  are 
only  opposed  to  each  other  as  a  higher  and  a  lower. 
They  are  different  stages  of  the  world's  develop- 
ment, but  to  be  under  the  dominion  of  the  lower, 
when  the  higher  is  possible,  means  failure  and  sin. 
Most  of  the  recognisable  evil  of  life  is  due  to 
this  failure  to  rise  to  the  new  stage.  Evil  is  an 
anachronism,  a  sad  and  hateful  reversion  to  type. 
In  St.  Paul's  statement  of  the  antithesis,  to  live 
under  the  law  was  the  natural  and  only  possible  state 
for  the  Jews  before  Christ,  but  after  the  new  dis- 
pensation, when  it  became  possible  to  live  under 
grace,  to  choose  the  previous  state  was  to  him  folly 
and  sin.  "When  our  eyes  are  opened  to  a  sin  of  our 
own  lives,  the  thing  which  strikes  us  about  it  is  its 
stupid  untimeliness.  It  is  born  out  of  due  season.  It 
represents  a  stage  which  has  been  passed  over  in 
the  history  of  the  race,  and  which  should  lie  behind 
us  forgotten.  It  is  so  with  fear  as  a  motive  as  com- 
pared with  love. 

Pear  is  the  first  Primer  of  the  race.  It  was  the 
first  bond  which  bound  men  together,  bound  them 
into  tribes  and  nations  for  mutual  defence.  Fear  had 
its  use  in  early  society,  and  even  now  in  the  first 
stages  of  individual  life  it  is  still  a  legitimate  motive 
of  action.     The  primitive  instinct  of  dread  has  still 


FEAR    AND    LOVE  235 

its  abode  in  life,  but  it  represents  a  lower  motive 
and  a  lower  bond  of  union  among  men.  Fear  made 
men  gather  together  for  protection,  for  support,  and 
played  a  useful  and  necessary  part  in  the  building  up 
of  society,  but  if  it  is  still  the  dominant  note  in  any 
society  it  no  longer  helps  but  hinders  development. 
Instead  of  being  the  inspiring,  coalescing  power  it 
once  was,  it  becomes  a  destructive,  disintegrating 
force,  fatal  to  social  progress,  putting  an  end  to  true 
harmonious  evolution. 

For  example,  this  is  the  source  of  the  industrial 
difficulties  of  to-day.  If  you  have  ever  made  a 
point  of  questioning  both  sides  impartially,  seeking 
to  see  the  point  of  view  of  both,  you  must  have  been 
struck  with  the  distrust  amounting  almost  to  fear  of 
both  contracting  parties.  Masters  and  men  do  not 
trust  each  other;  they  fear  each  other,  ever  thinking 
that  each  side  is  ready  to  take  advantage.  With 
what  truth  it  is  not  for  me  to  say,  but  this  state- 
ment will  be  acknowledged  to  be  the  fact  of  the  case 
by  all  who  know  both  sides.  And  so  we  have  the 
dislocation  of  trade,  which  is  only  the  evidence  of 
a  prior  dislocation  of  true  human  relationship.  Men 
must  learn  that  they  cannot  do  even  the  world's  busi- 
ness without  God.  If  we  are  only  kept  together  as 
a  society  because  of  the  possibly  greater  evils  of 


236  FEAR    AND    LOVE 

breaking  up  the  social  bond  altogether,  progress  is 
stopped.  That  is  the  stage  from,  which  the  race  has 
been  painfully  emerging,  and  we  need  the  new  and 
higher  motive,  the  motive  of  love.  Distrust  must  end 
in  dispeace;  suspicion  destroys  even  the  hope  of 
progress;  for  "fear  hath  torment."  All  forms  of 
disunion  are  of  the  devil.  We  simply  cannot  get 
on  as  a  society  by  purely  individualistic  methods, 
jealously  guarding  our  own  interests,  governed  by 
thought  of  self  and  fear  of  others.  Progress,  peace, 
victory — industrially,  nationally,  religiously,  and  in 
every  sphere  of  life — are  given  to  union,  not  to 
disunion. 

The  part  of  fear  as  a  factor  in  social  development 
must  become  ever  smaller.  It  still  has  its  place  as 
a  negative  force  in  keeping  away  any  sudden  disso- 
lution, but  in  the  higher  reaches  it  is  powerless  for 
further  development.  Love  must  now  take  its  place 
as  the  great  binding  force,  carrying  society  on  to 
richer  and  higher  levels.  This  is  the  work  of  the 
Church  as  an  organised  body.  It  is  for  the  Church 
to  set  the  standard.  The  model  for  the  world  ought 
to  be  the  Church.  It  should  be  an  object-lesson  of 
the  spiritual  bond  as  compared  to  the  natural,  of 
love  as  compared  to  fear.  Love  comes  to  her  own, 
and  rears  her  kingdom  in  the  midst  of  the  world's 


FEAR    AND    LOVE  237 

kingdoms.  Perfect  love  casteth  out  fear.  Is  it 
Utopian  to  think  that  this  may  be  true  of  us  in  our 
business  relations  with  each  other  ?  Is  it  the  thought 
of  a  dreamer  to  imagine  that  yet  the  love  of  God  will 
so  grip  men's  hearts  that  the  love  of  men  will  be 
tht'  natural  motive  of  all  our  action  ?  Is  it  too  much 
to  expect  for  our  society  that  fear  may  no  longer 
have  dominion  over  us,  because  self  is  no  longer  the 
ruling  passion?  Then  so  much  the  worse  for  your 
society ! 

The  same  startling  antithesis  of  fear  and  love  is 
seen  in  the  life  of  individuals  as  in  the  larger  life 
of  the  community.  The  world  is  a  place  to  some 
extent  of  rewards  and  punishments,  and  so  desire 
and  fear  are  legitimate  motives,  but  here,  too,  they 
are  only  lessons  from  the  first  Primer  of  education. 
Accessary  lessons  they  are,  but  only  elementary — 
initial,  not  final.  To  every  soul  of  man  the  way 
to  freedom  is  through  submission.  We  must  obey 
before  we  can  command.  We  must  submit  to  be 
ruled  before  we  can  rule.  Fear  as  a  motive  can 
always  be  counted  on  to  have  its  deterring,  restrain- 
ing force,  but  no  life  is  safe  which  is  only  ruled  by 
fear.  It  needs  to  be  lifted  upward  and  forward  by 
the  power  of  a  new  affection.  The  fear  of  the  Lord 
is  the  beginning  of  wisdom :  the  love  of  the  Lord  is 


238  FEAR    AND    LOVE 

its  crown  and  climax.  Pear  is  natural  enough,  but 
in  the  perfecting  of  life  it  must  be  cast  out,  and  it  is 
only  love  which  can  so  cast  it  out.  In  the  religious 
life,  fear  has  its  function  to  serve.  It  drives  us  to 
self-questionings,  to  self-reproach  and  self-abhor- 
rence, and  so  to  repentance,  and  so  out  of  the  wild'or- 
ness  into  the  fold  of  love.  When  the  perfect  is  co^ne 
that  which  is  in  part  is  done  away.  It  falls  off  as 
useless,  driven  out  by  the  expulsive  power  of  love. 
But  how  we  cling  to  the  lower  level,  and  refuse  to 
rise  to  the  higher  demand!  How  we  wilfully  re- 
main down  among  the  shadows,  instead  of  seeking 
the  place  where  the  sim  shines!  How  we  refuse  to 
believe  the  good  news  of  the  emancipation  from  the 
bondage  of  fear,  and  let  it  darken  our  hearts  and 
lives !  Even  when  we  know  that  God  is  love,  we  will 
not  keep  ourselves  in  the  love,  and  build  our  lives 
in  the  light.  Fear  holds  the  world  in  its  blighting 
grasp.  It  is  the  ally  of  the  last  enemy,  and  brings 
its  daily  victims  to  death. 

The  world  has  always  had  its  bogies,  the  things 
it  dreads.  Like  everything  earthly,  these  suffer  the 
law  of  change,  but  the  fear  itself  remains  in  some 
new  form.  The  old-fashioned  ghost,  and  the  more 
theatrical  terrors  of  the  supernatural,  have  been 
exorcised;  but  in  their  i3lace  has  come  to  a  world- 


FEAR    AND    LOVE  239 

weary  race  the  more  terrible  fear  of  the  natural,  a 
strange  dread  of  the  facts  and  forces  of  the  world, 
which  work  out  their  irresistible  changes  on  nature 
and  on  the  social  surroundings.  The  fear  of  death 
does  not,  perhaps,  hold  its  old  accustomed  place 
to-day ;  but  a  more  awful  fear  of  life  is  with  us  still. 
Men,  who  have  lost  sight  of  love  in  the  world,  the 
love  of  a  living  personal  God,  who  see  only  the  work- 
ing of  iron  law  amid  the  plastic  mass  of  circumstance, 
who  notice  everywhere  the  machinery  of  rigid  cause 
and  effect,  are  naturally  afraid  of  getting  in  among 
the  wheels,  and  becoming  the  sport  of  unfeeling, 
passionless  force.  But  love  casts  out  that  fear  also. 
It  recognises  love  amid  all  the  darkness  and  partial 
knowledge  of  nature.  It  gives  itself  calmly  and 
sweetly  into  the  hands  of  the  Love  that  rules  the 
world. 

But  the  commoner  fear  of  life  is  not  so  much  a 
fear  which  comes  from  such  a  speculation  as  that, 
but  on  a  humbler  level,  due  to  the  unknown  elements 
of  life  and  destiny,  the  seeming  freaks  of  fortune,  the 
appalling  changes,  the  uncertainties,  the  unspoken 
dread  of  the  possible.  It  comes  from  misgivings  of 
untried  paths,  apprehensions  of  evil,  heart-sinkings 
about  the  future,  distrust  of  self.  Sometimes  it  is 
not  fear  for  self  at  all,  but  a  nobler  form  of  fear 


240  FEAR    AND    LOVE 

almost  born  of  love  itself;  a  fear  for  others.  Some 
of  you  here  have  whispered  with  trembling  lips  in  the 
sanctuary  your  fears  for  those  you  love.  Life  seems 
terribly  open  to  the  tyranny  of  fear.  Somewhere 
or  other  it  can  spring  at  your  throat,  if  not  at 
this  turn  of  the  road,  then  possibly  at  the  next,  where 
the  shadow  is  darker,  and  the  way  is  more  lone- 
some. What  a  place  this  world  would  be  without 
love,  without  God :  a  dreary  waste  under  a  grey  sky. 
If  the  terror  of  the  thought  will  drive  us  into  the 
arms  of  the  Eternal  Love,  it  has  played  its  part.  "O 
God,  protect  us,"  is  the  pathetic  prayer  of  the  Breton 
fishermen,  ''for  our  boat  is  little  and  the  sea  is 
great." 

My  message  to  you  is  the  good  news — he  that  hath 
ears  to  hear,  let  him  hear;  he  that  hath  heart  to 
rejoice,  let  him  rejoice — the  glad  tidings  of  the  grace 
of  God.  Is  it  not  a  needful  and  a  fitting  message 
that  there  is  no  fear  in  love,  but  perfect  love  casteth 
out  fear  ?  The  perfect  love  has  its  root  in  the  love 
of  God.  Know  and  believe  the  love  that  God  hath 
to  us.  Know  and  believe  that  God  is  love.  Walk 
serenely  in  the  light  of  that  love.  In  it  there  is  no 
place  for  care  and  no  room  for  fear.  Love,  not  fear, 
is  the  secret  of  life.  Why  are  ye  fearful,  O  ye  of 
little  faith  ?     Take  heart  of  gTace ;  God's  love  is  the 


FEAR    AND    LOVE  241 

heart  of  the  world,  the  very  centre  of  life.  Live  in 
the  filial  relationship  with  God  in  which  Jesus  lived, 
and  at  once  you  are  emancipated  from  the  bondage  of 
fear.  Christ's  Gospel  is  the  gospel  of  the  grace  of 
God.  "Fear  not"  was  a  word  ever  on  His  gracious 
lips.  A  touch  of  His  hand  makes  quiet  the  fevered 
pulse:  a  look  of  His  eyes  brings  peace:  a  smile  of 
His  lips  illumines  the  world.  He  comes  to-day  as 
ever  to  bring  men  to  God,  bringing  God  with  Him. 
He  comes  over  life's  broken  waters  making  a  great 
calm:  "It  is  I,  be  not  afraid." 

Under  which  kingdom,  under  which  rival  domin- 
ion, are  you  spending  your  life  ?  Are  you  seeking 
for  peace  and  blessedness  in  the  natural  self-directed, 
self-centred  life  ?  That  cannot  be.  Or  are  you  tak- 
ing the  manifestation  of  God's  love  in  Christ  Jesus 
for  the  comfort  of  your  own  heart,  and  reflecting 
it  in  all  your  doings  for  the  joy  of  other  hearts  ?  If 
you  believe  the  Love  of  the  Father,  if  you  live  in  it, 
if  you  seek  to  regulate  your  own  life  by  it,  where  is 
there  room  for  fear?  It  is  cast  out.  There  is  no 
fear  in  love.  A  faith  like  this  grips  the  quiver  of 
trembling  flesh  with  a  strong  hand,  and  fear  is 
transmuted  into  love.  However  dark  and  tortuous 
the  path,  however  mysterious  Providence  has  been, 
however  uncertain  the  future  may  be,  all  things  work 


242  FEAR    AND    LOVE 

together  for  good  to  them  that  love  the  Lord.  It 
must  be  so :  it  is  so.  Lay  hold  of  your  faith  regally. 
Fear  not,  little  flock,  it  is  your  Father's  good  pleasure 
to  give  you  the  Kingdom.  Eise  up  with  the  light 
of  hope  in  your  eye.  Lift  up  your  face  with  its 
stain  of  tears  and  believe.  Faith  shall  live,  good  shall 
live,  love  shall  live:  fear  and  all  the  dragon-brood 
shall  die.  Take  up  the  burden  of  your  life  again 
with  courage,  and  let  Christ's  peace  rule  within.  "He 
that  dwelleth  in  the  secret  of  the  Most  High  shall 
abide  under  the  shadow  of  the  Almighty." 


XXIII 

THE    FILIAL    RELATION:    CONFIRMATION 
SERVICE 

As  many  as  received  Him,  to  them  gave  He  poicer  to  become  the 
sons  of  God,  even  to  them  that  believe  on  His  name.  —  St.  John  i .  12. 

A  GREAT  discovery  always  comes  to  a  man  with  a 
sense  of  its  inevitableness.  It  is  not  its  mystery 
which  now  strikes  him  but  its  truth.  He  wonders 
why  he  did  not  see  it  before,  and  why  others  do  not 
see  it.  A  discovery  of  beauty  or  truth,  to  the  man 
who  sees  it,  brings  its  own  conviction.  It  becomes 
to  him  self-evident,  not  to  be  argued  about  any  more, 
but  simply  to  be  accepted.  This  is  what  St.  John 
felt  about  Christ.  He  saw  Him  to  be  the  Light, 
simple,  witnessing  to  Himself  by  His  very  presence 
in  the  world.  He  was  there  to  be  seen  by  anybody, 
who  could,  and  would,  look.  The  mystery  to  him 
was  not  that  he  saw  the  grace  and  truth  and  beauty 
of  His  appearance,  but  that  any  should  be  capable  of 
not  seeing  them.     That  He  was  the  Light  of  the 

243 


244        THE    FILIAL    RELATION 

world,  and  yet  that  the  world  should  know  Him  not — 
that  was  the  wonder. 

Especially  was  this  the  case  with  the  Jews, 
among  whom  Christ  came.  They  were  in  a  peculiar 
sense  "£f^s  own."  He  was  the  fulfilment  of  all  their 
highest  and  truest  aspirations,  the  realisation  of  their 
hopes;  they  surely  ought  to  have  recognised  Him. 
Yet  His  rejection  was  never  so  complete  as  among 
His  own  race.  "He  came  unto  His  own,  and 
His  own  received  Him  not."  Still,  some  saw  the 
Light.  Some  recognised  Him,  and  their  hearts 
leaped  in  glad  surprise  and  glad  surrender.  And 
as  the  aged  Apostle  looks  back  on  what  Christ  had 
done  for  all  such,  he  feels  it  to  be  this,  that  as  many 
as  did  receive  Him,  to  them  gave  He  power  to  be- 
come the  sons  of  God. 

The  Jews  objected  to  this,  that  they  were  already 
the  children  and  people  of  God,  and  did  not  need  to 
become  such.  Our  Lord  had  to  show  them  that  even 
their  boasted  descent  from  Abraham  had  no  spiritual 
meaning,  looked  on  as  a  mere  physical  inheritance. 
The  kinship,  with  which  religion  has  to  do,  is  not 
a  thing  of  flesh  and  blood,  but  of  spirit.  So  that  men 
can  be  in  Israel  and  yet  not  of  Israel.  Similarly  the 
objection  arises  among  other  than  Jews  that,  if  there 
is  a  relationship  between  God  and  man,  it  cannot  be 


THE    FILIAL    RELATION        245 

an  exclusive  thing,  but  that  all  men  must  partake  of 
it.  To  them  it  seems  like  an  insult  to  the  race, 
to  speak  of  some  hecoming  children  of  God.  Is  not 
God  the  Creator  and  Preserver  of  all?  Do  not  all 
men  stand  in  the  same  relation  to  Him  ?  Are  not  all 
men  the  sons  of  God  ?  Are  they  not  sons  by  creation, 
by  natural  right? 

This  is  true.  In  a  sense,  all  men  are  sons  of  God. 
Milton  puts  this  thought  into  the  mouth  of  Satan : 

The  Son  of  God  I  also  am  or  was; 
And  if  I  was,  I  am;  relation  stands. 
All  men  are  sons  of  God. 

The  Bible  also  teaches  that  man  as  man  was  made 
in  the  image  of  God,  that  therefore  the  divine  is  of 
his  essential  nature,  that  man  as  man  was  made  a 
little  lower  than  the  angels :  and  it  is  the  fundamental 
presupposition  of  the  Incarnation  that  God  could 
enter  into  permanent  relations  with  humanity.  All 
men  are  indeed  the  children  of  God:  that  is,  they 
have  the  capacity  for  the  divine  life. 

But  sonship  by  natural  right  means  no  more  to 
men  than  descent  from  Abraham  meant  to  the  Jews, 
from  the  spiritual  standpoint.  The  Jews,  according 
to  our  Lord's  teaching,  could  only  enter  into  their 
inheritance  by  showing  kinship  to  Abraham  in  spirit. 


246        THE    FILIAL    RELATION 

So,  the  natural  sonship  must  pass  into  the  evangelical 
sonship,  or  it  means  nothing  except  as  a  latent  capac- 
ity ;  it  can  have  no  force  in  life  and  character.  The 
fact  that  all  men  are  the  children  of  God  means 
nothing  in  itself,  if  the  spirit  never  awakens  in  them, 
if  they  lie  dead  in  sins.  We  have  lost  our  rank.  If 
we  are  apostate  sons,  then  to  all  intents  and  purposes 
our  natural  sonship  is  as  though  it  were  not.  "That 
which  is  born  of  the  flesh  is  flesh,  and  that  which 
is  born  of  the  spirit  is  spirit."  The  one  cannot  stand 
for  the  other.  We  need  to  be  reintroduced  into  the 
filial  relationship.  We  have  to  recover  our  lost 
estate,  and  regain  the  privileges  of  sonship  which 
have  lapsed.  True,  this  filial  relation  with  God  is 
our  natural  sphere.  Only  thus  do  we  fulfil  the  true 
functions  of  our  nature.  It  was  for  this  we  were 
made,  as  a  man  discovers  when  he  once  more  enters 
the  household  of  God  as  a  son.  We  are  living  an 
unnatural  life,  in  the  truest  sense  of  the  word,  when 
we  are  living  away  from  God.  We  were  born  for 
the  love  of  God,  and  when  we  are  without  it,  we 
are  orphaned  and  desolate  in  the  world.  Our  high- 
est instincts  proclaim  this  to  us.  In  our  times  of 
deepest  experience  we  feel  that  we  are  akin  to  the 
living  God. 

It  is  related  about  a  king  of  Prussia  that  he  was 


THE    FILIAL    RELATION         247 

one  day  playing  with  children,  and  asked  them  to 
what  kingdoms  of  nature  different  things  to  which  he 
pointed  belonged :  a  stone  to  the  mineral  kingdom,  a 
flower  to  the  vegetable,  a  leopard's  skin  to  the  animal, 
according  to  the  old  classification.  "And  to  what 
kingdom  do  I  belong  ?"  he  asked.  "To  the  Kingdom 
of  Heaven,"  a  little  child  replied.  That  is  man's 
true  classification.  That  is  his  birthright.  Our 
hearts  assent  to  that  ever  and  again  with  a  thrill  of 
agreement,  in  moments  of  profound  feeling  or  noble 
thought.  But  we  do  not  live  as  such.  We  seem 
powerless  to  rise  to  the  level  where  this  state  is  the 
habitual  and  natural.  It  seems  more  like  a  shadowy 
memory  of  a  state  in  a  far-off  time,  a  time  when 
heaven  lay  about  us  in  our  infancy.  Shades  of  the 
prison-house  have  closed  upon  us  since  then. 

How  to  recover  that  state  of  sweet  filial  relation- 
ship with  our  Father  ?  It  is  our  Elder  Brother  who 
makes  it  possible.  He  awakens  the  dormant  sonship. 
He  unites  us  again  to  God.  He  brings  us  who  were 
afar  off  into  the  lost  fellowship,  makes  us  inmates 
of  the  household  of  God.  He  enables  us  to  re-enter 
the  relationship;  gives  us  power  to  become  the  chil- 
dren of  God.  This  was  His  life-work  on  earth,  to 
bring  men  into  the  same  relation  to  God  in  which  He 
Himself  stood.    What  God  was  to  Him,  He  wanted 


248        THE    FILIAL    RELATION 

Him  to  be  to  us.  What  He  was  to  God,  He  wanted 
us  to  be.  He  revealed  God  to  us  as  our  Heavenly 
Father.  Sonship  to  God  is  not  a  figure  of  speech, 
as  we  too  often  make  it.  It  denotes  rank  of  nature ; 
our  place  in  the  real  world.  It  expresses  what  we 
are  qualified  by  our  essential  nature  to  do  and  to  be, 
and  above  all  to  become.  It  implies  that  we  stand  in 
a  distinct  and  definite  relationship  to  God,  the  same 
relation  as  Christ,  a  relation  of  dependence,  but  also 
of  free  and  willing  love.  We  enter  consciously  into 
the  state  of  children  when  we  awaken  to  the  great 
fact  that  God  loves  us.  It  is  the  knowledge  of  that 
love,  and  the  humble  and  glad  acceptance  of  it,  which 
mark  the  beginning  of  the  state  of  sonship.  It  is 
the  wonder  and  romance  of  all  time  and  eternity  that 
it  should  be  so,  but  the  soul  that  believes  that  it  is 
so,  enters  into  its  inheritance  of  peace  and  love.  And 
we  who  look  forward  to  celebrate  the  Sacrament  of 
the  Lord's  Supper,  to  take  in  our  hands  the  symbols 
of  our  Saviour's  dying  love,  who  take  them  as  a 
pledge  of  the  eternal  love  of  God,  do  we  not  know 
that  Christ  has  given  us  power  to  become  the  children 
of  His  Father  and  our  Father,  His  God  and  our 
God? 

It  follows  from  this  that  the   Christian  life   is 
not  simply  a  receiving  and  being  done  with  once  for 


THE    FILIAL    RELATION        249 

all.  It  is  a  state  the  blessedness  of  which  corresponds 
to  the  nearness  of  the  fellowship.  The  Christian  life 
is  ever  a  "becoming."  Christ  enables  His  brethren 
to  become  the  sons  of  God.  So  many  Christians  live 
an  impoverished  life  because  they  make  the  begin- 
ning the  end.  They  do  not  enter  into  the  fullness, 
into  the  complete  life  of  the  Father's  Home.  They 
pass  the  threshold,  but  they  do  not  enter  fully  into 
the  family  relationship  as  members  of  the  household. 
To  become  the  children  of  God  is  not  merely  an  act 
of  adoption.  It  is  a  continual  advancement  in  the 
life  of  love,  an  ever-increasing  knowledge  of  what 
it  is  to  be  sons  and  daughters  of  God. 

You  who  come  to  take  your  place  for  the  first  time 
at  the  Lord's  Table,  God  has  loved  you  into  life: 
your  Heavenly  Father  has  loved  you  through  all 
the  years  of  your  youth ;  you  have  been  baptised  into 
the  name  of  Christ ;  you  have  been  educated  in  Chris- 
tian homes  and  a  Christian  congregation;  you  have 
belonged  to  the  household  of  God  from  the  very  first ; 
but  now  you  are  consciously  taking  on  yourselves 
the  privileges  and  duties  that  belong  to  the  followers 
of  Christ.  In  receiving  Him  and  His  love,  you  real- 
ise that  He  is  giving  you  power  to  become  the  chil- 
dren of  God.  You  have  awakened  to  the  surprise 
and  Joy  of  your  Father's  love,  and  to  the  knowledge 


250        THE    FILIAL    RELATION 

of  Ilis  claims  over  your  heart  and  life;  remember 
that  the  Christian  life  is  ever  a  becoming,  a  growing 
in  grace  and  in  the  knowledge  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  Make  this  time  of  consecration  a  fresh 
beginning  in  all  Christian  endeavour.  Claim  your 
true  place  in  every  sphere  of  life  as  children  of 
God ;  live  as  children. 

The  marginal  reading  of  our  text  has  instead  of 
"power,"  "right"  or  "privilege."  Christ  gives  us 
the  rigid  to  become  children  of  God.  It  is  a  privi- 
lege which  we  have  to  lay  hold  of.  We  talk  of 
standing  on  our  rights,  often  in  a  wrong  sense,  when 
we  only  mean  that  we  are  jealous  of  our  personal 
claims  to  consideration,  filled  with  a  puffed-up  idea 
of  our  importance.  But  there  is  a  true  sense  in  which 
we  ought  to  stand  upon  our  rights.  We  have  in- 
alienable rights  on  which  we  ought  to  make  our 
stand ;  spiritual  rights,  which  we  cannot  give  up 
without  giving  up  our  true  selves;  this  right  which 
Christ  gives  us  to  become  the  sons  and  daughters 
of  God. 

What  a  power  it  may  be,  this  sense  of  sonship! 
It  may  be  the  strongest  motive  in  life.  Sonship  is 
more  than  a  right  or  a  privilege:  it  is  a  dynamic. 
This  Communion,  which  is  the  seal  of  your  sonship, 
is  also  a  call  to  walk  worthy  of  the  great  vocation. 


THE    FILIAL    RELATION        251 

Every  right  implies  duty.  Every  privilege  means 
responsibility.  A  privilege  must  become  a  power  in 
our  life,  or  we  must  lose  it.  This  consciousness, 
which  has  awakened  in  you,  of  being  the  children  of 
God,  must  be  made  a  motive  power  in  your  life,  an 
inspiration  to  make  you  strive  not  to  dishonour  the 
name  which  now  you  bear. 

The  duties  which  emerge  to  all  children  of  God 
cannot  be  set  forth  in  a  list  of  precepts ;  but  they  are 
included  in  these  two  great  lines  of  duty.  First, 
sonship  implies  filial  love  to  our  Father  in  Heaven; 
and  secondly,  fraternal  love  among  ourselves.  This 
is  the  fulfilling  of  the  whole  law. 

The  root  and  source  and  foundation  of  our  son- 
ship  is  God's  Fatherhood.  Our  Lord  makes  this 
the  groundwork  of  duty.  His  call  to  us  is  to  rise 
to  the  height  of  our  own  nature,  to  live  in  the  con- 
sciousness of  sonship.  We  are  to  love  our  enemies 
that  we  may  be  the  children  of  our  Father,  who 
sends  His  rain  on  the  just  and  the  unjust  and  causes 
His  sun  to  shine  on  the  good  and  the  evil.  We  are 
to  be  perfect  as  our  Father  in  Heaven  is  perfect. 
Life  is  to  be  a  becoming,  with  the  perfectness  of  God 
as  the  ideal  and  the  goal.  The  Christian  life  is  the 
imitation  of  God,  as  a  son  imitates  a  wise  and  loving 
father.     Life  is  to  be  the  expression  of  the  filial 


252        THE    FILIAL    RELATION 

spirit.  When  we  come  to  the  Table  of  the  Lord 
with  its  tokens  of  matchless  love,  and  our  hearts 
bum  within  us  that  such  love  should  be  for  us,  so 
that  we  say  to  our  own  happy  hearts,  "Behold  what 
manner  of  love  the  Father  hath  bestowed  on  us  that 
we  should  be  called  the  children  of  God";  let  the 
next  thought  be,  Behold  what  manner  of  persons 
ought  we  to  be  that  such  privilege  should  be  given 
to  us,  who  are  joint-heirs  with  Christ,  who  have 
entered  into  the  Birthright  of  our  Elder  Brother. 


XXIV 
THE  SUBJECT  OF  MEDITATION 

We  have  thought  on  thy  lovingkindness,  0  Ood,  in  the  midst  of 
Thy  Temple. — Psalm  xlviii.  9. 

This  Psalm  is  a  song  of  triumph,  when  Jerusalem 
was  saved  from  some  impending  danger.  The  ref- 
erence may  be  to  the  overthrow  of  Sennacherib,  when 
the  Assyrian  army  encamped  against  the  capital,  and 
then  melted  like  snow  in  the  glance  of  the  Lord. 
In  any  case  it  was  at  some  such  time  as  that  when 
a  great  national  disaster  was  averted;  and  so  the 
Psalm  is  a  national  anthem  celebrating  the  victory. 
The  theme  is  that  God  is  the  safety  of  Zion,  the  im- 
pregnable city,  made  such  by  the  loving  care  of 
God.  After  a  vivid  description  of  the  danger,  when 
the  kings  were  assembled  together  to  eat  them  up, 
and  a  description  of  their  complete  discomfiture, 
broken  and  scattered  as  the  east  wind  breaks  the 
ships  of  Tarshish,  the  effect  of  the  deliverance  on 
men  of  faith  is  stated.  It  is  accepted  as  a  fresh 
evidence  for  faith.     They  feel  as  if  they  lived  in 

253 


254      THE    SUBJECT    OF    MEDITATION 

the  great  days  of  old  of  which  they  had  heard  from 
their  fathers.  Tradition  has  become  experience.  All 
that  they  had  heard  of  the  power  and  love  of  God, 
the  wonderful  history  of  their  race  with  its  provi- 
dential guidance,  finds  new  point  in  the  things  they 
themselves  have  witnessed.  "As  we  have  heard,  so 
have  we  seen."  The  present  deliverance  makes  them 
think  of  the  many  deliverances,  makes  them  look  back 
on  the  past  and  trace  there  the  evidences  of  the  love 
of  God.  The  one  token  of  love  warms  the  heart  to 
think  of  all  other  similar  tokens.  Into  the  Temple 
the  joyful  people  surge  to  give  vent  to  their  feelings 
of  gratitude  and  triumph.  Where  else  can  they  go 
with  such  fitness  but  to  the  sanctuary  which  stands 
to  them  as  the  very  heart  of  the  religion  ?  And  what 
is  more  fitting  than  that  they  should  before  all  else 
give  thanks  to  God.  Such  deliverance  drives  the 
pious  heart  to  God,  to  think  sweetly  of  His  loving- 
kindness.  They  go  up  to  the  Temple  to  think  of  it, 
lovingly,  gratefully,  humbly,  prayerfully. 

Shallow  souls  let  even  great  events  pass  without 
real  thought,  without  notice,  without  making  them 
an  occasion  for  going  deeper  into  life,  deeper  into 
the  mystery  and  wonder  of  God's  providence,  and 
deeper  into  their  own  hearts.  They  do  not  consider 
the  true  inward  significance  of  what  yet  strikes  them 


THE    SUBJECT    OF    MEDITATION      255 

as  marvellous.  Calamity  and  deliverance,  sorrow 
and  joy  alike  fail  to  impress  them,  fail  to  force 
them  to  apply  their  hearts  unto  w^isdom.  It  is  to 
live  on  the  surface  of  life  merely  to  plume  your- 
self in  the  sunshine  and  shiver  in  the  cold,  to  wel- 
come prosperity  and  cower  before  adversity,  merely 
accepting  with  appropriate  feeling  what  happens  to 
come;  and  never  to  ask  the  meaning,  never  to  want 
to  know  what  may  be  made  of  thesp  experiences. 
To  let  ourselves  float  on  the  surface  of  life,  like 
straws  on  the  sea  riding  proudly  on  the  crest  of  the 
wave  or  sinking  dully  in  the  hollow,  taking  loss  and 
gain,  sorrow  and  joy,  merely  as  surface  experiences 
without  thought  of  what  they  should  teach  us,  with- 
out seeing  spiritual  significance  in  either,  without 
paying  heed  to  warning  from  danger  and  giving 
thanks  for  mercy — that  is  a  poor  conception  of 
human  life. 

Here  in  this  Psalm,  after  the  great  deliverance,  the 
Psalmist  feels  that  the  first  thing  to  do,  the  first 
thought  to  think,  is  praise,  grateful  thanksgiving. 
"We  have  thought  on  Thy  lovingkindness,  O  God,  in 
the  midst  of  Thy  Temple."  What  fitter  place,  and 
what  fitter  theme  could  there  be  for  the  place  ?  It 
was  meet  that  they  should  go  there  and  hush  their 
hearts  into  peace  by  the  thought  of  all  God's  loving- 


256      THE    SUBJECT    OF    MEDITATION 

kindness  to  their  race  and  to  them.  And  what  fitter 
theme  could  there  be  for  us  as  we  come  to  take  in 
our  hands  the  symbols  of  God's  love  in  Christ  Jesus  ? 
Let  us  make  our  Communion  season  one  grateful 
meditation  on  this  grandest  of  all  themes.  There 
can  be  no  better  preparation  beforehand,  and  no  more 
appropriate  frame  of  mind  during  the  act  than  this. 
We  come  to  meditate  on  God's  lovingkindness.  That 
sums  up  everything,  all  we  would  like  to  do,  all 
we  would  like  to  feel.  "We  have  thought  on  Thy 
lovingkindness,  O  God,  in  the  midst  of  Thy  Temple." 
We  are  looking  forward  at  once  to  Easter,  the  day 
the  Church  celebrates  as  our  Lord's  resurrection,  not 
as  a  fact  merely  but  as  a  fact  with  a  deathless  hope 
in  its  bosom ;  and  at  the  same  time  we  look  forward 
to  celebrate  our  Lord's  death,  the  first  act  so  to  speak 
of  the  resurrection.  Both  of  these  are  occasions  for 
rejoicing  and  for  offering  the  sacrifice  of  praise. 
Easter  a  message  of  hope  for  a  world  of  death ;  Com- 
munion a  message  of  love  for  a  world  of  sin ! 

One  name  the  Church  has  employed  for  our  Holy 
Communion  is  Eucharist,  Thanksgiving,  suggested 
by  the  words  at  the  institution  of  the  Supper:  "He 
took  bread  and  blessed,"  "He  took  the  cup  and  gave 
thanks."  Our  common  English  word  "grace"  comes 
from  the  same  root  as  Eucharist,  and  we  have  one 


THE    SUBJECT    OF    MEDITATION      257 

use  of  it  which  is  almost  identical  with  the  first  use 
of  Eucharist,  in  the  phrase,  grace  before  meat. 
The  word  Eucharist  became  associated  with  Com- 
munion for  the  deeper  reason  that  the  whole  rite 
summed  up  to  the  believer  all  the  benefits  of  Christ's 
death  in  the  Gospel,  and  the  natural  expression  from 
us  is  simple,  grateful,  adoring  thanksgiving.  We 
come  that  we  may  think  on  God's  lovingkindness  in 
the  midst  of  the  Temple  displayed  to  us  in  Christ 
Jesus,  This  is  the  one  and  only  subject  of  medita- 
tion, to  think  on  God's  lovingkindness. 

Where  shall  w^e  begin,  and  where  end?  Like  the 
pious  Jews,  who  entered  the  Temple  to  give  praise 
after  their  deliverance  and  were  led  back  and  on  to 
think  of  what  had  gone  before  and  what  would  come 
after,  we  have  not  merely  one  act  of  love  to  celebrate. 
Like  them  we  think  of  the  past,  the  past  history  of 
redemption,  all  the  gathering  spiritual  riches  of  the 
race,  the  record  of  revelation,  the  history  of  the 
Church,  all  the  men  of  God  who  walked  with  Him 
and  whose  works  follow  them,  leaving  fragrance  and 
beauty  for  us  all.  And  not  only  do  we  think  of  that 
larger  past,  but  also  of  our  own  past.  We  have  not 
only  tradition  but  experience:  "As  we  have  heard, 
so  have  we  seen  in  the  city  of  our  God."  We  think 
of  the  lovingkindness  manifested  to  us,  and  all  God's 


258      THE    SUBJECT    OF    MEDITATION 

providence  meeting  us  at  every  turn  of  tlie  road,  His 
gracious  leading  which  we  surely  see  in  the  midst 
of  the  Temple,  viewing  life  from  the  standpoint 
of  God.  We  think  of  the  present  and  the  future,  how 
all  our  needs  are  met  in  Him,  and  how  our  future  is 
safe  with  Him.  In  the  light  of  the  deathless  love 
which  shines  through  the  simple  form  of  this  memo- 
rial rite,  should  not  complete  trust  fill  our  hearts 
now  and  confidence  for  the  future  illumine  our  path  ? 
Whether  we  look  back  or  forward,  within  or  without, 
is  not  thanksgiving  our  appropriate  state  ?  "We 
have  thought  of  Thy  lovingkindness,  O  God,  in  the 
midst  of  Thy  Temple." 

What  can  we  think  of  in  the  presence  of  the 
tokens  of  love  but  of  Him  and  His  lovingkindness? 
Let  the  breaking  of  the  bread  and  the  pouring  out 
of  the  wine  stand  to  us  as  they  should  for  all  that 
Christ  has  brought  us,  the  forgiveness  of  sins,  peace 
with  God,  reconciliation,  hope  of  glory,  all  the  rich 
and  glorious  elements  of  divine  love.  On  these 
things  we  will  think.  All  the  gifts  of  bounty  and 
grace  are  summed  up  to  us  in  the  unspeakable  gift 
of  Christ:  all  the  tokens  of  love  are  summed  up  in 
the  Son  of  His  love.  We  think  of  Jesus  the  pledge 
of  the  Father's  love,  the  promise  and  the  fulfilment 
of  it.     It  is  to  remember  Him,  to  think  of  Him, 


THE    SUBJECT    OF    MEDITATION      259 

that  the  very  rite  was  instituted  by  Him.  When  we 
come  to  the  Table,  we  will  think  of  Thy  loving- 
kindness,  O  God,  in  the  midst  of  Thy  Temple.  From 
the  burning  heart  of  love,  shown  to  us  there,  we  see 
love  everywhere.  We  see  that  life  is  surrounded  by 
God,  that  we  are  engirded,  enswathed,  encompassed 
by  the  love  of  God,  beset  behind  and  before.  On 
that  love  we  will  meditate :  on  it  we  will  feed :  we 
will  seek  to  get  from  it  comfort  and  peace  and  hope 
and  strength  for  new  obedience. 

It  is  for  all  of  us ;  but  you  especially  who  come  for 
the  first  time  to  enter  publicly  into  this  covenant 
of  love,  let  this  be  your  theme  of  grateful  medita- 
tion. You  have  sought  knowledge  and  discernment 
from  the  teaching  of  the  class  for  preparation;  you 
have  examined  yourselves,  looked  into  your  failure 
and  sin  and  unworthiness — all  that  is  well.  But  we 
come  not  to  think  of  ourselves  at  all,  not  even  of  our 
sin,  but  to  think  of  Him.  We  have  fears  and  doubts 
and  difficulties  and  temptations — and  we  will  have 
them  to  face  in  the  future  also,  but  we  put  them 
aside.  When  we  come  to  the  Table,  that  is  not  the 
place  or  the  time  to  consider  them.  We  have  but 
one  theme,  one  thought,  in  the  midst  of  the  Temple, 
amid  the  sacred  mysteries  of  the  Temple:  namely, 
His  lovingkindness.     Some  of  you  wonder  if  you 


260      THE    SUBJECT    OF    MEDITATION 

have  enough  love  to  justify  you  in  coming.  But  it  is 
not  our  love  of  Him  that  is  our  warrant, — that  at 
best  is  weak  and  feeble  and  fickle, — but  His  love 
of  us.  On  that  we  would  rest.  After  all,  this  is 
the  heart  of  communion.  His  love.  We  warm  our- 
selves at  this  flame.  It  is  the  way  to  kindle  love 
in  our  own  hearts,  the  way  to  increase  faith,  the 
way  to  aspire  to  all  good  works  and  service.  It  is 
the  way  also  to  peace.  As  we  think  of  God's  loving- 
kindness  in  the  midst  of  the  Temple,  let  the  sweet 
assurance  that  this  wondrous  love  is  yours,  offered 
to  you,  beget  in  you  the  happy  confidence  that  you 
are  held  irrevocably  in  the  hands  of  love:  "For  this 
God  is  our  God  for  ever  and  ever:  He  will  be  our 
guide  even  unto  death." 


XXV 
CHRIST'S  CHOSEN 

"  Ye  have  not  chosen  Me,  hut  Ihave  chosen  you,  and  ordained  you, 
thatye  should  go  forth  and  bring  forth  fruit,  and  that  your  fruit 
shouldremain. — St.  John  xv,  16. 

Does  this  represent  an  absolute  fact  ?  If  so,  it  seems 
to  limit  man's  power  and  make  him  the  sport  of 
mere  circumstance.  Can  we,  for  instance,  blame  him 
if  he  is  not  among  the  chosen  ?  Is  it  his  fault  if  he 
remains  among  them  that  are  without?  We  touch 
here  one  of  the  stubborn  problems  which  have  ever 
exercised  the  human  mind,  the  old  problem  as  to 
the  place  of  free-will  in  relation  to  divine  foreknowl- 
edge. At  the  start  it  is  perhaps  well  to  remember 
that  religion  does  not  depend  on  our  capacity  to 
reconcile  the  great  basal  difficulties  of  the  universe, 
and  it  is  possible  to  live  well  without  having  solved 
the  ultimate  problems  of  existence.  We  may  state 
this  fact  which  our  Lord  expresses  in  these  words 
in  a  hard  and  rigid  dogma  against  which  the  mind 
instinctively  revolts,  or  we  may  elaborate  a  theory 

261 


262  CHRIST'S    CHOSEN 

on  the  other  side  which  practically  denies  the  truth 
of  our  Lord's  words.  And  so  the  wordy  battle 
goes  on. 

Facts  are  of  more  importance  than  theories,  and  as 
a  matter  of  fact  it  is  part  of  the  religious  conscious- 
ness to  ascribe  sovereignty  to  God  and  to  explain 
everything  as  caused  by  His  eternal  purpose.  This 
is  a  definite  experience  which  can  be  seen  in  the 
history  of  every  prophet.  He  knew  that  there  was 
nothing  haphazard  in  his  life,  that  everything  in  it 
was  causal  not  casual,  and  that  his  work  was  no 
accident. 

It  is  a  fact  also  of  the  record  that  Christ  did 
choose  His  disciples.  Out  of  the  company  who  were 
attracted  to  Him  He  singled  the  men  whom  He  delib- 
erately made  the  inner  circle.  We  read  that  He 
called  His  disciples,  and  of  them  He  chose  twelve 
whom  also  He  named  Apostles.  Later,  when  dis- 
criminating between  the  character  of  Judas  and  the 
rest,  He  asked,  and  in  the  question  asserted  His 
complete  authority:  "Have  not  I  chosen  you  twelve  ?" 
Of  course  there  is  a  sense  in  which  they  chose  Him, 
but  religious  experience  unreservedly  acknowledges 
the  profounder  truth  which  lies  in  this  statement: 
"Ye  have  not  chosen  Me,  but  I  have  chosen  you." 
To  the  believing  man  his  choice  of  Christ  is  simply 


CHRIST'S    CHOSEN  263 

the  evidence  of  Christ's  choice  of  him.  There  is  a 
calling  of  God  to  which  the  soul  of  man  responds. 
The  religions  man  feels  and  knows  that  it  is  all  of 
God,  beginning  in  His  eternal  choice,  and  kept  right 
through  by  His  power.  The  deepest  truth  of  religion 
is  that  salvation  is  of  the  Lord.  St,  Paul  expresses 
it  continually,  as  to  the  Ephesians:  "God  chose  us 
in  Christ  before  the  foundation  of  the  world.  .  .  . 
In  love  He  foreordained  us  unto  adoption  as  sons." 
And  to  the  Thessalonians :  "God  chose  you  from 
the  beginning  unto  salvation  in  sanctification  of  the 
spirit  and  belief  of  the  truth."  This  is  the  expe- 
rience of  all  religion,  bearing  out  the  essential  truth 
of  the  statement :  "Ye  have  not  chosen  Me,  but  I  have 
chosen  you." 

!N^ow,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  this  is  in  line  with  what 
we  know  to  be  true  in  other  directions.  This  ele- 
ment of  necessity  is  in  our  lives.  We  were  born 
into  a  country  and  environment  and  family  which, 
with  all  that  means  in  present  influence  and  the 
transmission  of  past  history,  really  settles  most 
things  for  us.  It  settles  a  great  deal  of  what  we  are 
and  what  we  can  do.  Whatever  be  the  place  and 
povt^er  of  personal  choice,  we  are  conditioned  and 
limited  by  much  over  which  we  have  no  influence. 
Even  in  the  big  things  we  know  in  how  true  a  sense 


264  CHRIST'S    CHOSEN 

it  is  we  do  not  clioose  but  are  chosen.  Theoretically 
we  have  an  unlimited  power  of  choice  as  to  the  kind 
of  work  we  will  do  in  the  world  and  the  kind  of 
friendships  we  will  form,  but  practically  much  is  out 
of  our  reach.  It  is  true  that  in  the  deepest  sense 
we  need  never  be  the  mere  victims  of  our  fate,  but 
may  be  its  masters.  It  is  true  that  in  the  deepest 
sense  the  thing  that  matters  in  our  work  is  the  spirit 
in  which  we  do  it,  the  quality  of  the  workman'  and  not 
the  kind  of  work  he  does.  And  in  our  friendships 
what  really  matters  is  the  kind  of  friend  we  are  and 
the  kind  of  relation  it  is  made,  not  the  particular 
persons  or  the  particular  grade  of  society  they  belong 
to.  Still  the  great  broad  element  of  necessity  re- 
mains a  fact  in  both  of  these  very  important  spheres. 
It  may  be  better,  as  the  proverb  says,  for  a  man 
to  rule  himself  than  to  rule  a  city,  but  often  the 
man  who  could  rule  the  city  or  the  nation  has  no 
opportunity  and  is  tied  to  other  work.  In  the  great 
things  of  life  we  seem  often  to  be  passive  recipients 
rather  than  active  agents.  Emerson  said:  "My 
friends  have  come  to  me  unsought;  the  great  God 
gave  them  to  me."  As  in  the  crises  of  life  this 
element  of  necessity  must  be  recognised. 

It  seems  even  to  go  deeper  than  in  the  matter  of 
opportunity  afforded,  deep  into  the  fundamental  facts 


CHRIST'S    CHOSEN  265 

of  personality  to  which  we  give  names  like  that 
of  heredity  and  temperament  and  predisposition. 
Hazlitt  in  the  Plain  Speaker  has  an  essay  on  Per- 
sonal Character  which  he  prefaces  with  a  sentence 
from  Montaigne:  "Men  palliate  and  conceal  their 
original  qualities,  but  do  not  extirpate  them."  The 
thesis  of  the  essay  is  that  no  man  really  changes  his 
character.  He  may  alter  for  better  or  worse,  may 
improve  opportunity  and  mend  his  manners,  as  we 
say,  but  the  character,  the  internal  original  bias 
remains  always  the  same.  It  is  a  variant  of  the  old 
prophetic  question:  "Can  the  Ethiopian  change  his 
skin  or  the  leopard  his  spots  ?"  This  may  be  stated 
too  absolutely,  leading  to  despair  or  callousness,  that 
what  a  man  is  he  must  be,  like  the  grain  in  the  wood. 
The  tree  may  be  warped  or  bent  or  its  growth  en- 
couraged, but  the  grain  is  the  same.  It  seems  to 
leave  us  in  as  hopeless  a  fix  as  the  old-world  doctrine 
of  planetary  influence  and  our  fate  as  lying  in  our 
stars.  But  it  really  means,  what  we  see  to  be  a  fact, 
that  temperamental  characteristics  remain.  It  does 
not  mean  that  they  cannot  be  altered  or  in  any  way 
changed,  but  that  they  persist  through  all  change. 
The  melancholy  type  does  not  become  the  mercurial. 
The  man  of  sanguine  temper  is  never  as  the  phleg- 
matic, and  never  can  quite  be.     ISTatural  aptitudes 


^66  CHRIST'S    CHOSEN 

remain.  Progress  means  that  it  should  be  progress 
along  that  fixed  line,  that  a  man  should  become  the 
best  of  his  kind.  The  fact  is  stated  foolishly  and 
wickedly  if  it  is  stated  as  destroying  effort  and  shut- 
ting out  moral  hoj)e.  It  should  rather  be  an  induce- 
ment to  effort  and  progTcss.  Peter,  it  is  true,  could 
never  be  like  John,  and  James  could  never  be  a 
^Nathaniel,  and  Thomas  who  doubted  could  never 
be  Judas  who  betrayed.  But  Peter  from  being  the 
boastful  braggart  could  become  the  resolute  champion 
of  the  Cross,  and  Judas  need  not  have  succumbed  to 
his  covetousness  and  sold  his  Master  for  thirty  pieces 
of  silver.  Though  personal  character  may  be  fixed 
as  Hazlitt  maintained,  we  can  counteract  tendencies 
and  strengthen  infirmities  and  be  cured  of  the  de- 
fects of  our  qualities.  To  hold  otherwise  is  to  deny 
conversion,  deny  the  grace  of  God  even  when  seem- 
ing to  uphold  something  like  His  sovereignty. 

In  fact  the  doctrine  which  underlies  our  Lord's 
words  is  really  the  doctrine  of  gi'ace,  and  the  con- 
sciousness of  this  is  a  matter  of  experience.  Every 
disciple  of  Christ  knew  himself  to  be  chosen  and 
called;  and  we  know  it  still.  "After  that  we  have 
knoMTi  God,  or  rather  have  been  known  of  God," 
St.  Paul  wrote  to  the  Galatians,  correcting  his  first 
statement  into  one  in  accord  with  experience.     The 


CHRIST'S    CHOSEN  267 

beginning  of  everything  is  God's  love  and  grace.  If 
we  love  Him  it  is  because  He  first  loved  us.  "Herein 
is  love,"  said  St.  John,  "not  that  we  loved  God,  but 
that  He  loved  us."  It  is  not  that  we  choose,  but  that 
we  are  chosen.  Christian  faith  is  simply  the  accept- 
ance of  Christ's  love,  a  love  which  is  there,  not 
dependent  on  our  love  or  anything  in  us.  Faith  is 
to  recognise  this  existing  love. 

A  right  acceptance  of  this  great  truth  means 
strength  and  comfort  and  peace.  Our  salvation  de- 
pends on  something  more  stable  than  ourselves.  The 
words  which  Christ  used  there  to  His  disciples  are 
meant  for  their  consolation,  part  of  the  comfort  He 
gives  them  for  His  absence.  He  is  to  leave  them 
and  they  are  to  be  sent  out  to  a  world  which  hates 
them,  and  it  is  for  comfort  that  they  should  know 
that  they  are  not  picked  out  haphazardly  but  chosen 
by  Himself  for  a  great  purpose. 

Also  Christ's  choice  is  for  senace,  not  to  privilege 
but  to  duty.  From  one  aspect  it  is  the  selection  of 
an  instrument.  Of  course  it  is  more  than  that, 
because  a  man  is  not  like  a  dead  tool  that  may  be 
honoured  by  being  used  for  a  high  purpose.  He  is 
conscious  of  his  destiny  and  makes  himself  the  will- 
ing agent  of  love.  There  is  privilege  in  it.  AVho 
can  be  blind  to  the  privilege   and  blessing  of  the 


268  CHRIST'S    CHOSEN 

twelve  with  their  days  and  nights  spent  in  the  com- 
pany of  Jesus,  touching  His  hand  and  looking  into 
His  eyes  and  hearing  His  words  and  communing  with 
His  soul?  And  there  is  privilege  in  every  high 
choice.  But  the  sense  of  privilege  and  personal  bless- 
ing are  by  the  way,  something  that  comes  along  with 
the  chief  end.  The  happiness  is  a  sort  of  by-product, 
always  produced,  but  not  for  its  own  sake.  The  real 
purpose  lies  in  the  ultimate  service  designed:  "I 
have  chosen  you  and  ordained  you,  that  ye  should 
go  and  bring  forth  fruit."  It  is  election  to  fruit- 
fulness,  to  being  and  doing,  not  to  enjoying.  The 
enjoying  is  not  missed,  but  it  comes  as  a  result  of 
the  larger  end. 

When  we  speak  of  the  blessings  of  Christ's  choice 
of  men,  do  we  always  think  of  the  purpose?  Every 
man  who  does  any  work  in  the  world  uses  consciously 
or  unconsciously  the  same  principle;  he  chooses  his 
instruments  and  elects  his  means.  The  artist  chooses 
to  use  certain  pigments  and  colours.  The  master 
chooses  to  use  certain  men  for  certain  work.  The 
workman  chooses  to  use  certain  tools.  But  all  these 
are  subservient  to  the  great  end  and  aim  beyond. 
God's  work  in  the  world  cannot  be  done  otherwise. 
He  chooses  His  instruments,  but  how  we  destroy  tho 
meaning  of  words  and  cloak  the  sense !     The  dis- 


CHRIST'S    CHOSEN  269 

taste  which  men  have  so  often  taken  to  what  is  called 
the  doctrine  of  election,  is  largely  due  to  an  error 
here,  to  a  false  conception  of  its  purpose.  We  think 
of  it  exclusively  as  privilege;  the  Bible  thinks  of  it 
mainly  as  service.  As  in  all  selection,  there  is  always 
an  eye  to  the  future  and  to  the  larger  whole.  This 
is  Nature's  way  in  all  vital  development  of  which  we 
have  traces.  And  religiously  we  see  it  to  be  God's 
way  throughout  the  whole  record  of  the  Bible. 
Abraham  was  chosen,  for  Abraham's  sake  yes,  be- 
cause he  was  the  fit  instrument,  but  chosen  really 
for  the  world's  sake.  And  so  on  through  the  long 
list  of  chosen  men.  Even  the  chosen  nation  is 
blessed,  that  through  her  all  the  nations  of  the  earth 
may  be  blessed.  It  is  against  the  w^hole  teaching  of 
the  Bible  that  there  is  ever  in  God's  dealings  fa- 
vouritism in  our  meaning  of  that  word.  So  little  is 
this  the  case,  that  with  the  prophets  God's  choice  of 
them  is  sometimes  a  burden  from  which  they  would 
fain  draw  back,  not  a  privilege  but  a  penalty,  a 
passion,  often  a  tragedy.  And  their  teaching  also 
is  along  this  line.  "You  only  have  I  known  of  all 
the  families  of  the  earth,  therefore  I  will  punish  you 
for  all  your  iniquities."  What  a  glaring  non-sequitur 
this  appears  to  us,  as  it  did  to  the  Jews  themselves. 
With  irreligious  men  the  thought  of  divine  choice 


270  CHRIST'S    CHOSEN 

loses  spiritual  force  and  is  made  an  occasion  for 
narrow  excliisiveness  and  empty  pride. 

A  gift  carries  its  price.  A  divine  right  means  some 
divine  duties.  The  disciple  is  indeed  chosen, — 
blessed  privilege, — but  he  is  chosen  that  he  should 
go  and  bring  forth  fruit.  St.  Peter,  writing  to  the 
Church,  calls  Christians  elect,  but  his  word  is  "elect 
unto  obedience."  St.  Paul  calls  upon  the  Ephesians 
to  bless  God  who  hath  chosen  us  in  Him  before 
the  foundation  of  the  world,  that  we  should  be  holy 
and  without  blame  before  Him  in  love.  If  we  feel 
ourselves  within  the  scope  of  God's  purpose  and  be- 
lieve ourselves  within  the  circle  of  the  Saviour's  love, 
let  us  humbly  bless  Him  and  rejoice  in  His  gracious 
favour,  but  let  us  see  that  His  purpose  is  being 
forwarded,  that  we  are  making  ourselves  channels  of 
His  grace.  Christians  are  not  called  to  be  saved 
primarily,  but  called  to  be  saints.  They  are  not 
called  to  a  crown  of  life,  but  called  to  be  faithful 
unto  death  and  then  to  obtain  a  crown  of  life.  Dis- 
ciples are  chosen  that  they  should  go  and  bring  forth 
fruit. 

If  Christ  chooses  men  does  it  seem  useless  to  speak 
about  men  choosing  Christ  ?  By  no  means.  We  have 
seen  that  there  is  a  sense  in  which  the  disciples 
chose  Christ.    We  are  chosen  for  the  same  reason  for 


CHRIST'S    CHOSEN  271 

which  we  would  choose.  To  try  to  separate  the  two 
processes  is  to  make  a  futile  distinction,  like  too  fine 
distinctions  between  choosing  a  friend  and  being 
chosen  by  him.  There  is  a  calling  of  God  to  which 
the  soul  of  man  responds,  but  religion  means  that 
the  human  soul  does  respond.  Faith  means  the 
acceptance  of  a  love  which  is  offered  us.  It  does 
not  create  the  love,  but  it  recognises  it  and  receives 
it.  If  we  know  that  Christ  has  chosen  us  it  is  be- 
cause we  have  chosen  Him.  If  we  are  sure  to  the 
marrow  of  our  bones  that  God  loves  us,  it  is  because 
we  have  begun  to  respond  to  that  love.  And  the  door 
is  open.  If  there  is  no  favouritism  there  is  also  no 
exclusion.  We  choose  Him  who  first  chose  us.  We 
love  Him  who  first  loved  us.  Here  at  the  Table,  as 
we  take  the  pledge  of  discipleship,  we  choose  the 
Master  who  has  chosen  us.  His  we  are,  and  Him  we 
serve.  We  accept  the  strength  and  comfort  and 
peace  that  come  from  the  knowledge  that  our  choice 
is  His  choice  and  that  He  holds  us  by  a  love  that  will 
not  let  us  go.  We  remind  ourselves,  also,  that  we  are 
His  for  service,  that  we  should  go  and  bring  forth 
fruit. 


XXVI 

LOVE'S  SELF-EXPRESSION 

Jesus  knowing  tliat  the  Father  had  given  all  things  into  His 
hands,  and  that  He  was  come  from  Ood  and  goeth  unto  God  .  .  . 
began  to  wash  the  disciples'  feet. — St.  John  xiii.  3. 

The  general  preface  which  the  Apostle  gives  to  this 
scene  is  "having  loved  His  own  which  were  in  the 
world,  Jesus  loved  them  to  the  end."  As  all  His 
life  revealed  love  so  was  the  end  of  His  life.  It 
was  only  the  carrying  of  it  a  stage  further.  The 
glass  ran  itself  out  in  golden  sands.  The  life  passed 
in  music  out  of  sight.  The  last  was  as  the  first  and 
the  perfect  round  was  completed.  Having  loved,  He 
loved  unto  the  end. 

In  illustration,  then,  of  that  love  in  the  hours  at 
the  end,  this  beautiful  scene  is  recalled  of  how  the 
Master  washed  the  disciples'  feet.  It  is  given  as  a 
last  proof  of  that  wonderful  love.  It  was  meant  to 
teach  some  needful  lessons,  but  primarily  it  was  a 
spontaneous  outburst,  the  yearning  of  His  heart  at 
the  thought   of  the   approaching  separation.      The 

273 


LOVE'S    SELF-EXPRESSION      273 

Apostle  sees  more  in  it  than  any  practical  purpose  of 
pointing  a  moral.  It  arose  out  of  an  inherent  neces- 
sity of  Christ's  own  nature,  a  need  for  self-expres- 
sion. St.  John  traces  it  back  to  the  very  Godhead 
itself.  "Knowing  that  the  Father  had  given  all 
things  into  His  hands  and  that  He  came  from  God 
and  goeth  unto  God,  Jesus  riseth  from  supper  and 
layeth  aside  His  garments  and  He  took  a  towel  and 
girded  Himself.  Then  He  poured  water  into  the 
basin  and  began  to  wash  the  disciples'  feet  and  to 
wipe  them  with  the  towel  wherewith  He  was  girded." 
How  lovingly  every  movement  is  recalled!  He  sees' 
Him  do  it  again,  as  he  loved  to  see  Him  do  it  all  over 
again  and  again  in  fond  memory  during  these  long 
years.  He  brings  back  every  gesture,  every  step  in 
that  wondrous  self-abasement.  And  the  fruit  of  a 
long  life  of  meditation  on  the  sweet  life  he  was 
privileged  to  behold  is  seen  in  the  reason  he  gives  for 
this  act  of  love. 

Why  did  Jesus  do  it  ?  N"ot  merely  that  it  might 
be  an  object  lesson  to  disciples  whose  minds  were  full 
of  ambitions  and  jealousies.  For  that  reason  also; 
but  He  did  it,  says  the  Apostle,  as  part  of  His  inevita- 
ble self-expression.  "Because  He  knew  that  the 
Father  had  given  all  things  into  His  hands  and  that 
He  came  from  God  and  goeth  unto  God."     That  is 


274      LOVE'S    SELF-EXPRESSION 

the  divine  philosophy  of  the  act.  The  consciousness 
of  His  divine  mission  and  the  knowledge  of  His 
future  glory,  so  far  from  being  restraints  in  keeping 
Him  from  this  demeaning  act,  were  the  spur  that 
made  Him  so  act.  It  was  from  the  pinnacle  of  divine 
glory  that  He  stooped  to  a  deed  of  self-effacement. 
The  Apostle  lays  emphasis  on  this.  It  was  not  that 
Christ  forgot  Himself  for  a  moment,  forgot  His  dig- 
nity. It  was  not  that  He  was  not  quite  sure  of  His 
relation  to  the  Father.  If  ever  He  knew  it,  it  was 
then.  It  was,  according  to  St.  John,  in  His  moment 
of  highest  self-knowledge  that  He,  because  of  that 
knowledge,  performed  this  servile  office.  Christ  had 
full  knowledge  of  His  glory  and  dignity  and  in  spite 
of  that — nay,  because  of  that — He  emptied  Himself 
of  His  glory  and  took  upon  Himself  the  form  of  a 
servant.  The  nearer  the  end,  the  more  Christ  was 
conscious  of  His  glory,  and  the  more  clearly  did  He 
show  that  it  was  the  glory  of  perfect  sacrifice. 

What  is  the  meaning  of  this  to  us  ?  It  means  that 
here  in  this  self-humiliation  we  have  a  revelation  of 
what  God  is.  It  means  that  here  we  have  a  sample 
of  the  divine  life,  and  therefore  a  standard  for  all 
human  life.  To  make  a  mistake  about  God  is  to 
vitiate  all  possible  doctrines  about  man.  It  means 
that  love  is  the  test  of  life,  and  that  unselfish  service 


LOVE'S    SELF-EXPRESSION      275 

is  the  test  of  love.  ]^ot  to  understand  this  is  not  to 
understand  the  nature  of  love.  The  earth  breeds 
many  false  forms  of  love,  born  of  passion,  selfish  in 
origin  and  end.  But  true  love  serves,  seeketh  not 
even  her  own,  stoops  to  conquer,  is  ready  to  win  her 
crown  by  self-forgetfulness.  As  we  look  at  this 
beautiful  act  in  the  upper  chamber — the  act  itself  a 
sacrament — let  us  keep  firm  hold  of  this  thought 
that  the  very  heart  of  God  is  laid  bare  in  it,  that  love 
like  this  is  the  natural  manifestation  of  the  divine. 
If  we  do  not  see  that  such  condescension  is  the 
natural  and  necessary  act  of  One  who  "came  forth 
from  God  and  goeth  unto  God,"  then  let  us  pray  for 
clearer  eyes  and  purer  hearts  that  we  may  be  able  to 
recognise  divinity  when  it  appears  with  such  effulgent 
spiritual  glory. 

There  was  also  necessity  for  a  lesson  like  this  for 
the  disciples  at  the  time.  We  know  from  another 
Gospel  that  just  before  there  had  occurred  one  of 
their  unseemly  quarrels  about  precedence.  St.  Luke 
tells  us  "there  was  also  a  strife  among  them  which 
of  them  should  be  accounted  the  greatest."  They 
all  seemed  to  be  aware  that  a  crisis  was  approaching. 
In  spite  of  Christ's  teaching,  however,  their  notions 
about  the  kingdom  were  materialistic.  The  true 
glory  of  Christ's  work  was  not  understood  by  them. 


276      LOVE'S    SELF-EXPRESSION 

To  make  a  triiimplial  entry  into  the  great  city  amid 
the  plaudits  of  men,  to  wield  the  sceptre  of  David, 
and  to  judge  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel,  these  would 
have  been  marks  of  divine  favour.  They  were  ready 
to  scramble  after  dignities,  place  and  power  in  the 
new  kingdom,  after  the  usual  fashion  of  men.  So, 
at  the  first  communion  table  there  were  marks  of 
subdued  strife  and  the  clashing  of  poor  ambitions. 
Probably  Christ  noticed  a  reluctance  on  the  part  of 
any  one  to  lower  his  pretensions  by  serving  the  others. 
He  rose  from  the  table  and  performed  the  menial 
act  of  washing  their  feet,  by  the  very  act  revealing 
of  what  sort  His  kingdom  was. 

'Now  from  this  stupendous  revelation  of  the  inner 
nature  of  divine  self-expression  some  very  essential 
things  regarding  human  life  follow.  Religion  is  the 
life  of  God,  and  if  Christ  in  this  object-lesson  de- 
clares the  nature  of  the  heavenly  Father,  then  we 
have  presented  to  us  a  very  practical  test  of  our 
religion.  How  far  are  we  ruled  by  love  ?  How  far 
has  the  spirit  of  Jesus  influenced  our  thoughts  and 
acts  ?  How  far  have  we  given  up  our  efforts  after 
self-satisfaction  through  self-indulgence  ?  How  far 
have  we  resigned  our  own  will  and  are  ready  to 
serve?  Know  ye  the  meaning  of  this  parable  in 
action?     "Know  ye  what  I  have  done  unto  you?" 


LOVE'S    SELF-EXPRESSION      277 

asked  Christ,  giving  a  plain  application  of  the  sacra- 
mental sermon,  nay,  even  laying  bare  the  very  heart 
of  the  Holy  Communion  itself,  "if  I  the  Lord  and 
the  Master  have  washed  your  feet,  ye  ought  also  to 
wash  one  another's  feet." 

What  a  rebuke  this  is  to  the  thoughts  of  our  hearts 
and  to  the  state  of  the  world.  What  a  rebuke  to  our 
innumerable  divisions  and  boundaries  which  we  set 
up  to  keep  men  from  recognising  their  brethren. 
What  a  rebuke  to  our  classes  and  castes  and  distinc- 
tions. What  a  rebuke  to  our  evil  minds  inflamed  by 
envies  and  jealousies  and  ambitions.  Our  civilisa- 
tion presents  too  much  the  spectacle  of  a  mad  scram- 
ble of  every  man  for  himself  and  the  devil  take  the 
hindmost.  Perhaps  in  this,  too,  it  may  be  the  first 
that  shall  be  last,  the  foremost  the  hindmost,  the 
devil's  lawful  prey.  We  are  glad  to  confess  that  the 
spirit  of  the  Lord  Jesus  is  in  our  midst.  How  much 
of  sweet  service  and  humble  love  there  is  we  cannot 
rightly  measure,  and  He  will  own  it  all.  But  also 
the  general  misapprehension  as  to  the  true  riches  of 
life,  the  delirious  search  for  that  which  profiteth  not, 
the  insane  craving  for  distinctions  and  possessions 
which  do  not  in  themselves  make  men  rich  towards 
God!  Do  we  believe  that  only  in  the  measure  in 
which   we    imitate    Jesus   in  this    respect,    in   that 


278      LOVE'S    SELF-EXPRESSION 

measure  we  have  truly  lived?  Is  our  chief  end  of 
life  to  get  or  to  give  ?  Life  is  judged  by  love ;  love 
is  measured  hy  service.  There  can  be  no  other  test 
from  the  nature  of  God  Himself. 

The  devil  of  self-seeking  in  his  multitude  of  forms 
is  not  easily  dethroned  from  the  human  heart.  In 
the  very  chamber  of  the  king  of  souls  that  night  when 
He  stooped  to  reveal  His  nature,  there  was  a  man 
who  was  seeking  self  and  turned  his  back  upon  the 
love  of  God  and  the  love  of  his  brethren.  The  feet 
of  Judas  also  that  night  were  touched  with  the  sacra- 
mental rite  of  washing,  but  not  the  heart.  The 
Master's  gentle  hand  washed  his  feet  and  wiped  them 
with  the  towel.  Did  not  the  water  sting  him  ?  Did 
not  Christ's  touch  madden  him  with  contrast  to  his 
dark  traitor's  heart  ?  We  can  be  in  Christ's  presence 
and  yet  be  far  from  Him.  We  can  be  false  to  Him 
in  other  ways  than  selling  Him  for  silver.  There  are 
many  forms  of  the  temptation  to  divorce  religion 
from  the  life  of  service  and  yet  to  think  we  still 
possess  love.  There  is  a  luxurious  religiousness 
which  lives  in  mystic  meditations,  which  takes  de- 
light in  beautiful  thoughts  about  the  Cross  and  fine 
phrases  about  self-denial,  but  never  once  lifts  a  little 
finger  to  touch  the  world's  burden.  It  knows  noth- 
ing of  service.     It  knows  nothing  of  washing  the  feet 


LOVE'S    SELF-EXPRESSION      279 

of  Christ's  brethren.  It  is  cradled  in  selfishness. 
The  blight  of  Judas  is  on  it.  It  betrays  the  Master 
with  a  kiss.  "Ye  call  Me  Master  and  Lord,  and  ye 
say  well,  for  so  I  am.  If  I  then,  the  Lord  and  the 
Master,  have  washed  your  feet,  ye  ought  also  to  wash 
one  another's  feet."  God  stoops  because  it  is  God- 
like. Man  must  stoop  if  he  would  rise  to  the  stature 
of  Christ.  The  service  of  love  and  of  love's  Lord 
is  open  to  us  all.  We  never  lack  opportunities  to  dis- 
cipline self  and  seek  the  highest  good  of  others.  We 
never  lack  opportunities  to  comfort  and  strengthen 
and  bless. 

Two  great  conclusions  follow  from  the  profound 
thought  of  our  text.  A  simple  word  or  look  or  deed 
of  lovingkindness  may  make  a  rift  in  the  cloud  that 
darkens  life  for  some  soul  and  let  him  see  into 
heaven.  Whoso  shows  to  a  human  heart  love  shows 
that  heart  God. 

The  second  is  like  unto  it.  To  wash  the  feet  of 
the  brethren  is  to  wash  the  feet  of  Christ,  to  take  the 
sting  out  of  His  wounds  where  the  nails  pierced  Him. 
"Inasmuch  as  ye  have  done  it  unto  the  least  of  these 
my  brethren,  ye  have  done  it  unto  Me." 


XXVII 

THE  CONSEQUENCES  OF  FAITH 

Now  the  Ood  of  hope  fill  you  with  all  joy  and  peace  in  believing, 
that  ye  may  ahoxmd  in  Twpe,  through  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
— Romans  xv,  13. 

« 

St.  Paul  finishes  the  practical  exhortations  of  his 
Epistle  with  this  gracious  benediction,  invoking  on 
their  behalf  a  rich  blessing,  that  their  faith  may  be 
crowned  with  joy  and  peace  and  hope.  He  has  been 
dealing  with  some  of  the  problems  which  arise  in  the 
Christian  society,  how  the  Jew  and  the  Gentile  are 
to  live  together  and  each  get  the  fullest  good  from 
their  common  faith;  how  the  scrupulous  conscience 
and  the  more  robust  nature  must  exercise  mutual 
toleration,  and  must  help  each  other,  and  if  need  be 
sacrifice  something  for  each  other.  To  all,  and  in  all 
difficulties,  love  will  find  a  way,  and  will  prove  the 
fulfilling  of  the  law.  If  love  have  free  course,  it 
will  justify  itself  by  its  noble  fruits  of  patience  and 
service.  The  strong  will  help  the  weak:  the  weak 
will  rise  to  strength  through  growth  in  grace  and  in 

280 


THE    CONSEQUENCES    OF    FAITH      281 

knowledge.  To  tlie  believing  Jew  the  Gospel  will 
come  as  truth,  confirming  the  promises  made  unto  the 
fathers.  To  the  believing  Gentile,  it  will  come  as 
mercy.  And  both  with  one  mind  and  one  mouth  will 
glorify  God,  even  the  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  Over  both,  over  all,  he  utters  the  same 
benediction,  suggesting  to  all  by  the  very  terms  of 
the  blessing  that  the  true  solution  of  all  their  dif- 
ficulties is  to  make  their  faith  richer  and  stronger 
and  fuller,  joyful,  peaceful,  hopeful.  Faith  so  buoy- 
ant and  vital  will  make  little  of  their  problems.  It 
is  when  the  vitality  of  faith  is  lowered,  when  it  ceases 
to  take  hold  of  life  by  the  strong  right  arm,  that 
these  small  difficulties  loom  large.  This  is  the  con- 
clusion of  all  these  controversies  and  the  solution  of 
them,  "l^ow  the  God  of  hope  fill  you  with  all  joy 
and  peace  in  believing,  that  ye  may  abound  in  hope, 
through  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost." 

The  keynote  of  the  benediction  is  struck  in  the 
first  words,  "The  God  of  hope."  God  is  still  to  us 
the  God  of  hope :  all  we  are  or  can  be  is  bound  up  in 
Him.  Without  Him,  life  would  be  a  dreary  desert 
without  meaning  or  rational  end.  But  the  very 
phrase  cannot  thrill  us  with  its  suggestiveness,  as  it 
must  have  done  the  early  Christians.  With  our 
keenest  imagination,  we  cannot  fully  appreciate  the 


282      THE    CONSEQUENCES    OF    FAITH 

new  and  wonderful  hope  wliicli  the  Christian  faith 
hroiiglit  to  tlie  hard  pagan  worhl.  Even  intellectu- 
ally, to  say  nothing  of  morally  and  spiritually,  it  was 
as  the  beginning  of  all  things.  From  the  confused 
ideas  of  Gods  many  and  Lords  many,  without  charac- 
ter, without  consistency,  from  the  maddening  despair 
of  polytheism  to  men  whose  minds  were  being 
enlightened  and  whose  consciences  were  being 
awakened ;  to  the  conception  of  the  One-God,  and 
that  God  the  Heavenly  Father  revealed  in  Christ; 
the  transition  must  have  been  so  great,  bringing  such 
a  flood  of  light  and  meaning  to  the  world  and  life ; 
it  must  have  made  such  a  difference  that  this  God 
they  now  believed  in  could  be  called  pre-eminently 
the  God  of  hope. 

The  power  of  the  thought  is  still  further  enlianced 
when  we  think  of  those  who  made  the  majority  of  the 
early  Church.  Many  who  were  victims  of  the  stern 
rule  of  Rome,  the  broken  remnants  of  many  races,  the 
oppressed,  the  down-trodden,  slaves,  freedmen  who 
had  known  the  bitterness  of  slavery,  men  who  had  no 
longer  a  country,  no  longer  a  true  home,  no  longer 
even  a  religion;  some  of  a  higher  rank  upon  whom 
had  come  deep  weariness  and  despair  of  truth,  who 
were  without  God  and  therefore  without  hope  in  the 
world:  all  these  were  there,  and  others  of  the  class 


THE    CONSEQUENCES    OF    FAITH      283 

to  whom  the  Master  appealed  when  He  called  all  that 
labour  and  are  heavy-laden  to  come  to  Him.  Can 
we  imagine,  in  even  a  dim  and  distant  fashion,  the 
new  hope,  the  new  fountain  of  joy,  the  new  way  of 
peace,  opened  to  all  such  by  the  faith  of  Christ  ? 
Well  might  St.  Paul  invoke  on  them  the  blessing  of 
the  God  of  hope.  And  to  all,  the  very  terms  of  the 
blessing  meant  a  trumpet-call  to  realise  the  glorious 
contents  of  their  faith,  to  live  in  full  and  conscious 
possession  of  their  inheritance. 

Do  we  not  need  the  same  reminder  of  the  conse- 
quences of  our  faith,  of  what  it  should  bring  to  our 
life  of  joy  and  peace  and  hope?  Do  we  enter  into 
our  Christian  inheritance?  Do  we  not  usually  live 
far  below  our  opportunities  and  our  privileges? 
Our  heritage  is  more  spacious  and  sublime  than  we 
admit  even  to  ourselves.  Our  faith  being  what  it  is, 
the  spirit  of  our  lives  ought  to  be  different.  We 
should  not  live  so  much  under  the  cloud,  in  a  de- 
pressed state,  with  lowered  spiritual  vitality.  We 
should  know  more  of  the  glad  confidence  of  morning, 
more  of  the  exultant,  victorious  ease  of  living.  May 
not  this  be  the  explanation  of  our  painful  lack  of 
power  ?  'No  man  can  do  his  best  work  in  a  depressed 
state:  and  no  man  can  do  his  best  living  in  a  de- 
pressed state.     Can  faith  be  having  its  free  course 


284      THE    CONSEQUENCES    OF    FAITH 

in  our  nature  if  it  Las  not  changed  the  tone  and 
spirit  of  our  life  ?  We  believe :  but  do  we  push  out 
to  the  conclusions  which  should  follow  from  the 
believing  ?  Do  we  let  it  fructify  into  joy  and  peace 
and  hope  ?  St.  Paul  constantly  speaks  of  these  as 
the  inevitable  result  of  faith.  "Being  justified  by 
faith,  we  have  peace  with  God  .  .  .  and  rejoice  in 
hope  of  the  glory  of  God."  It  is  the  same  triad  of 
graces  as  in  this  benediction,  "Peace  and  joy  in 
believing,  that  ye  may  have  hope."  These  are  the 
inner  contents  of  the  faith,  the  expected  outcome. 
To  have  the  believing  without  the  peace  and  joy  and 
hope,  is  to  have  the  root  and  plant  without  the  blos- 
som and  the  fruit.  It  is  almost  to  make  the  love  of 
God  of  none  effect.  Believing  in  the  forgiveness  of 
sin,  and  in  reconciliation  with  God,  accepting  His 
eternal  love  in  Christ,  and  all  that  such  a  revelation 
means,  one  of  the  results  of  the  faith  should  be  the 
reflex  action  on  ourselves. 

Our  belief  in  God's  character  and  nature,  and  in 
His  purpose  of  love  in  Jesus  Christ,  should  bring 
great  and  abiding  joy.  It  does  not  mean  that  we 
should  omit  out  of  our  consideration  the  sterner, 
sadder  elements  of  life,  the  permanence  of  the  moral 
law  with  its  dread  sanctions,  God's  hatred  of  sin,  our 
ovm  failure  to  attain.     It  does  not  mean  that  we 


THE    CONSEQUENCES    OF    FAITH      285 

should  cultivate  a  shallow  light-heartedness  of  disposi- 
tion which  reaches  a  complacent  view  of  the  world 
by  the  elimination  of  all  uncomfortable  facts.  The 
most  fatuous  and  nauseous  of  all  false  creeds  is  that 
which  looks  on  God  as  a  sort  of  superior  philan- 
thropist, with  a  weak  good-will,  a  colourless  benevo- 
lence, without  passion,  without  justice,  without  even 
principle.  As  if  there  were  no  law  with  its  inflexible 
conditions;  as  if  goodness  could  exist  without  right- 
eousness, and  love  without  justice ;  as  if  sin  were  noth- 
ing but  an  amiable  mistake,  amiably  overlooked  by  a 
complacent  deity;  as  if  the  world  were  a  universal 
rose-coloured  blur,  without  clear  light  and  dark 
shadow ! 

All  the  same  we  often  needlessly  and  wilfully 
darken  life,  and  obscure  the  light  of  God's  love,  and 
hinder  it  from  its  perfect  work  in  us.  We  do  not 
accept  the  consequences  of  our  faith:  we  do  not  joy- 
fully receive  the  glad  tidings  of  great  joy:  the  early 
rapture  dies  out:  we  no  longer  feel  the  thrill  of  the 
revelation, 

As  when  a  great  thought  strikes  along  the  brain 
And  flushes  all  the  cheek. 

In  our  ordinary  mood  the  last  word  we  would  use  to 
express  God  to  us  is  ''the  God  of  hope."     Believing 


286      THE    CONSEQUENCES    OF    FAITH 

does  not  carry  in  its  bosom  all  joy  and  peace,  and  we 
cannot  be  said  to  abound  in  hope.  We  seem  to  have 
lost  the  exultant  sense  of  mastery  over  life  and  vic- 
tory over  the  world,  so  notable  in  the  early  Church. 
A  common  type  of  devotion,  of  which  our  devotional 
books  are  full,  is  of  a  settled  melancholy,  with  a 
beauty  of  a  kind,  the  beauty  of  autumn,  not  the  ex- 
hilaration of  spring  with  its  rich  exuberance  of  life. 
We  live  under  a  leaden  sky.  Our  faith  is  too  often 
an  uneasy  introspection.  It  does  not  flower  out  in 
the  sunshine  of  God's  love,  radiant  with  the  joy  of 
possessing  that  love.  We  do  not  enter  fully  into  our 
Kingdom  of  love;  and  so  the  j)assion,  and  mystery, 
and  wonder,  and  adoring  ecstasy  of  it  have  not 
entered  into  us.  Where  are  the  evidences  of  peace 
and  joy  and  hope  in  believing  ?  We  need  a  sweeter, 
sunnier  faith. 

For  one  thing,  there  is  no  way  of  commending  the 
Gospel  but  this.  It  was  this,  the  living  Epistles  of 
men's  lives,  the  flush  and  fervour  of  the  joyous  faith, 
the  abounding  hope,  which  won  for  Christ  His  first 
great  triumphs  in  the  early  centuries.  The  rich 
beauty  of  holiness,  the  winsome  attractive  graces, 
were  ambassadors  for  God  more  powerful  and  elo- 
quent than  preacher's  voice  or  Apostle's  pen.  Spir- 
itual conviction  does  not  come  by  argument.     Logic 


THE    CONSEQUENCES    OF    FAITH      287 

is  not  the  key  which  unlocks  the  Kingdom.  Life 
more  abundant,  undying  hope,  fragTant  peace,  the 
strange  unearthly  joy,  these  were  the  missionaries  of 
the  cross.  Augustine  might  wander  away  in  his 
youth,  seduced  by  the  world's  pleasure,  enticed  by 
rhetorician's  art,  allured  by  ambition;  but  the 
memory  of  his  mother's  sweet  faith  and  patient  love 
never  let  him  go ;  and  every  time  he  met  a  man  like 
Ambrose,  Bishop  of  Milan,  and  noted  the  same 
Christian  marks,  he  was  dra^vn  back  from  his  devious 
paths  to  consider  again  the  claims  of  Christ.  It  was 
so  from  the  beginning.  St.  Paul  and  his  fellow- 
workers  approved  themselves  to  the  Corinthians,  as 
he  could  truthfully  say,  "by  pureness,  by  longsuffer- 
ing,  by  kindness,  by  love  unfeigned,  by  the  word  of 
truth,  by  the  power  of  God,  by  the  armour  of  right- 
eousness on  the  right  hand  and  on  the  left."  We 
must  get  back  the  early  tone  and  temper,  if  we  would 
have  the  early  triumphs.  We  must  live  in  the  power 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,  if  we  would  regain  the  early  glad- 
ness and  hope  and  singleness  of  heart. 

Why  not  ?  Who  should  be  happy  and  joyful,  if 
not  we  ?  Who  should  know  peace  of  mind,  and  live 
sweetly  and  simple,  if  not  we  ?  Who  should  be  saved 
by  eternal  hope,  and  abound  in  it,  if  not  we,  to  whom 
has  come  the  vision,  and  the  revelation  of  the  ador- 


288      THE    CONSEQUENCES    OF    FAITH 

able  Saviour,  full  of  grace  and  truth  ?  There  is  a 
joy  in  Christ  larger  and  grander  than  any  earthly 
joy.  There  is  a  peace  in  Christ  which  touches  depths 
unknown  to  the  world.  There  is  a  blessedness  of 
soul  in  Christ,  of  which  we  cannot  find  words  to  speak 
to  others  and  can  only  whisper  to  our  own  happy 
hearts.  There  is  a  hope  in  Him  which  goes  on  past 
life,  and  death,  and  the  last  memory  of  the  earth. 
"The  God  of  hope  fill  you  with  all  joy  and  peace  in 
believing,  that  ye  may  abound  in  hope." 

We  say  that  at  the  worst  we  can  always  hope,  and 
all  can  hope — but  can  we  ?  Hope  to  be  true  hope, 
and  not  mere  idle  wishing,  must  have  a  foundation. 
Otherwise  it  is  only  hoping  against  hope,  which 
means  hoping  in  the  absence  of  all  the  conditions 
that  would  justify  hope,  empty,  delusive  dreaming 
that  some  good  may  turn  up.  Such  hope  may  be  a 
pleasant  companion,  but  is  a  treacherous  guide,  and 
will  in  all  probability  land  a  man  in  the  ditch.  The 
Christian  hope  is  built  on  knowledge.  Its  head  is 
in  the  clouds,  but  its  feet  are  in  present  and  actual 
joy  and  peace.  The  present  is  its  security  and  its 
guarantee.  "The  miserable  have  no  other  medicine, 
but  only  hope,"  says  Shakespeare,  but  such  hope  may 
be  merely  the  longing  that  a  better  time  may  come, 
and  is  not  the  glad  confidence  of  the  man  who  knows 


THE    CONSEQUENCES    OF    FAITH      289 

the  comfort  and  strength  of  love  now.  Christian 
hope  is  grounded  on  Christian  experience.  The  man 
who  knows  the  joy  and  peace  of  believing  may  well 
have  hope.  He  has  good  reason  for  it.  Our  present 
is  our  future  in  the  making.  If  we  have  no  faith 
now,  what  reason  have  we  for  expecting  the  fruits  of 
faith  in  some  later  time  ?  The  hope  here  described 
is  the  expectation  that  faith  will  bear  the  same  great 
fruits  of  joy  and  peace  hereafter  as  well  as  here. 

Christ  is  the  promise  and  pledge  of  this.  Christ 
is  the  centre  of  the  Christian  faith.  Christ  is  the 
joy  and  peace  of  the  Christian  heart — and  He  is  our 
hope.  All  that  we  need  assert,  and  believe,  of  the 
future  is  that  He  will  be  the  same  for  ever  as  He 
was  yesterday,  and  is  to-day.  He  who  was  the  be- 
ginning will  be  the  end.  He  who  was  the  Author  of 
our  faith  will  be  the  Finisher.  He  will  be  the  en- 
vironment of  the  Christian  soul,  what  matters  where, 
or  when,  or  how?  In  Paul's  great  language,  the 
riches  of  the  glory  of  the  mystery,  is  Christ  in  you, 
the  hope  of  glory. 

"Finally  therefore,  my  brethren,  rejoice  in  the 
Lord."  Let  us  enter  into  our  heritage  of  peace  and 
joy.  The  great  days  of  the  faith  will  return  when 
we  let  faith  so  pervade  our  being  that  the  graces  of 
the   spirit  will  blossom  naturally.      Such  exultant 


290      THE    CONSEQUENCES    OF    FAITH 

faith  will  triumph  easily  over  sin,  over  sorrow,  over 
death.  This  is  the  victory  that  overcometh  the 
world,  even  oiir  faith.  We  must  not  be  ever  driven 
like  a  hunted  deer.  In  the  love  of  God  we  will 
surely  emerge  into  peace  sometime.  Let  the  joy  of 
the  Lord  be  9ur  strength.  Let  us  live  in  Christ, 
sustained  by  His  strength,  inspired  by  His  love,  over- 
shadowed by  His  peace.  In  Him  our  joy  will  not  be 
a  mood  merely,  fickle,  fleeting,  but  a  state,  the  normal 
condition  of  life. 

The  night 
Wanes  into  morning,  and  the  dawning  light 
Broadens,  and  all  the  shadows  fade  and  shift ! 
I  follow,  follow— sure  to  meet  the  sun. 
And  confident  that  what  the  future  yields 
Will  be  the  right — unless  myself  be  wrong. 

The  God  of  hope  fill  you  with  all  peace  and  joy  in 
believing,  that  ye  may  abound  in  hope;  for  under- 
neath are  the  everlasting  arms. 


XXVIII 

THE  PEOPLE  OF  THE  COVENANT 

The  Lord  our  Ood  made  a  covenant  with  us  in  Horeb. — 
Deuteronomy  v.  2. 

The  idea  of  covenant  runs  through  the  Bible.  It 
was  a  very  natural  figure  to  use  to  express  the  re- 
lationship between  God  and  His  people.  Men's 
minds  were  accustomed  to  the  ideas  involved  in  a 
covenant,  as  it  is  one  of  the  commonest  experiences  of 
social  life.  Indeed  there  can  be  no  social  life  with- 
out it.  The  very  fact  of  living  together  implies  con- 
tracts, agreements  undertaken  by  two  or  more  parties, 
though  we  may  not  accept  Rousseau's  famous  inter- 
pretation of  it  in  his  doctrine  of  the  "Social  Con- 
tract." But  in  any  case  men  even  in  the  most 
primitive  conditions  understood  a  covenant  to  be  a 
mutual  compact  of  some  kind ;  it  might  be  a  treaty  in 
which  the  whole  community  was  involved,  when  the 
tribe  or  nation  entered  into  a  league  with  another ;  it 
might  be  a  covenant  of  friendship  as  that  between 
Jonathan  and  David,  "Jonathan  and  David  made  a 

291 


292     THE    PEOPLE    OF    THE    COVENANT 

covenant  because  be  loved  bim  as  bis  own  soul" ;  it 
migbt  be  for  trade  or  some  mutual  advantage  among 
equals,  if  only  tbe  advantage  of  refraining  from  burt- 
ing  eacb  otber,  as  tbe  compact  between  Abimelecb 
king  of  the  Philistines  and  Isaac,  "Let  us/'  said 
Abimelecb,  "make  a  covenant  with  thee,  that  thou 
wilt  do  us  no  hurt,  as  we  have  not  touched  thee  and 
have  done  thee  nothing  but  good."  Tbe  compact 
need  not  be  between  equals  but  might  apply  to  tbe 
mercy  extended  by  a  conqueror  to  a  vanquished  foe, 
as  when  Ahab  after  his  great  victory  over  the  Syrians 
made  a  covenant  with  the  king  Ben-hadad  to  let  him 
live.  With  a  word  of  such  wide  and  elastic  mean- 
ing, we  can  see  how  appropriate  it  was  to  represent 
the  relationship  in  which  Israel  believed  herself  to 
stand  towards  God.  Indeed  all  religions  are  more  or 
less  in  the  form  of  a  covenant,  perhaps  not  definitely 
expressed,  and  certainly  not  so  clearly  expressed  as 
in  the  Jewish  religion ;  but  every  worshipper  in  every 
religion  came  Avith  bis  worship,  his  prayers,  his  offer- 
ings, with  the  tacit  understanding  that  his  deity  bad 
a  special  interest  in  him,  or  could  be  made  by  fit 
means  to  take  that  interest. 

In  the  Old  Testament  the  idea  of  covenant  colours 
the  whole  history.  Pious  Jews  looking  back  inter- 
preted not  only  the  particular  history  of  their  race, 


THE    PEOPLE    OF    THE    COVENANT      293 

but  even  universal  history  by  the  thought  of  covenant. 
Creation  itself  was  a  covenant,  and  the  sign  of  the 
covenant  was  the  Sabbath.  After  the  flood  the  es- 
cape of  ISToah  and  all  the  living  creatures  with  him  is 
represented  as  the  establishing  of  a  covenant,  and 
the  token  of  it  is  the  bow  in  the  clouds,  as  a  remem- 
brance of  the  everlasting  covenant  between  God  and 
every  living  creature  of  all  flesh  that  is  upon  the 
earth.  The  history  of  their  own  race  begins  with  a 
covenant  with  Abram,  which  on  the  side  of  God 
takes  the  form  of  a  promise,  and  one  which  includes 
all  Abram's  posterity,  the  whole  people  of  Israel. 
"In  that  day  Jehovah  made  a  covenant  with  Abram, 
saying,  Unto  thy  seed  have  I  given  this  land."  Other 
instances  there  are  of  a  covenant  between  God  and  a 
single  man,  such  as  that  with  David ;  but  in  all  these 
cases  there  is  a  national  and  a  religious  purpose  in 
them.  It  is  on  behalf  of  the  people  they  are  entered 
into.  The  promise  to  David,  as  also  the  promise  to 
Abraham,  was  a  promise  for  the  benefit  of  the  nation ; 
and  in  each  case  there  was  a  moral  condition  attached 
to  it.  A  contract  by  the  very  nature  of  the  case  was 
not  a  one-sided  thing.  It  was  a  compact  by  virtue 
of  which  God  offered  His  favour  under  certain  condi- 
tions. It  was  a  promise  on  the  side  of  God :  it  was 
an  agreement  to  fulfil  the  conditions  on  the  side  of 


294      THE    PEOPLE    OF    THE    COVENANT 

men.  'And  these  conditions,  especially  as  illustrated 
by  the  prophets,  were  in  their  essence  of  a  moral 
nature. 

So  the  most  typical  of  all  the  covenants,  the  one 
which  became  the  very  centre  of  the  religious  life 
of  Israel,  was  this  one  at  Sinai  when  God  entered  into 
relationship  with  the  whole  people  as  a  people.  It  is 
not  necessary  further  to  trace  the  history  of  the 
covenant  doctrine  in  the  prophets,  in  the  books  of  the 
law,  in  the  priests'  code.  Every  one  with  any  biblical 
knowledge  will  admit  how  this  idea  of  covenant  re- 
lationship fills  and  colours  the  whole  history  of  Israel. 
In  the  cases  we  have  chosen  we  have  already  eeen 
all  the  essential  features  of  the  thought. 

These  are  first,  that  God  of  His  grace  condescends 
to  enter  into  this  relationship.  The  common  arti- 
ficial distinction  so  often  drawn  between  what  is 
called  the  covenant  of  works  of  the  Old  Testament, 
and  the  covenant  of  grace  of  the  New  Testament,  has 
no  support  from  the  Bible.  That  is  a  purely  imagi- 
nary distinction.  Every  divine  covenant  is  of  grace, 
the  lovingkindness  of  a  Father  who  taught  Ephraim 
to  walk,  holding  him  by  the  arms.  The  grateful 
nation  looked  back  adoringly  and  said,  "The  Lord 
our  God  made  a  covenant  with  us  in  Horeb." 

The  second  point  is  that  the  two  parties  to  a 


THE    PEOPLE    OF    THE    COVENANT      295 

covenant  are  free  moral  agents.  If  it  is  of  the  free 
grace  of  God,  it  is  also  of  the  free  will  of  man.  As 
religion  became  less  national  and  more  individual 
this  became  clearer  and  clearer  to  spiritually-minded 
men  like  the  prophets,  and  carried  with  it  the  implica- 
tion that  salvation  had  to  be  freely  accepted  by  men. 
The  third  feature  follows  from  that.  Since  a 
covenant  need  not  be  between  equals,  and  may  be  (as 
must  be  when  God  is  one  of  the  parties  to  it)  all  giv- 
ing on  the  one  side,  and  all  taking  on  the  other,  and 
yet  nevertheless  implies  mutual  freedom,  it  also 
therefore  implies  obligation  on  both  sides.  Each 
party  to  the  bargain  has  rights.  Men  who  enter  into 
a  contract  with  each  other  can  claim  to  be  treated  ac- 
cording to  the  bond ;  each  possesses  legal  rights,  or  at 
at  least  moral  rights.  The  covenant  people  knew 
that  they  would  receive  from  God  not  only  favour 
but  justice,  that  God  would  treat  them  according  to 
law  and  not  according  to  caprice ;  and  what  an  im- 
mense advance  in  the  moral  education  of  man  that 
knowledge  meant !  On  the  other  side  God  expected 
from  the  covenant  people  the  fulfilment  of  the  moral 
obligations  they  took  upon  themselves.  This  was 
the  covenant  made  in  Horeb.  On  the  one  side,  "I 
am  the  Lord  thy  God  which  brought  thee  out  of 
Egypt  from  the  house  of  bondage."     It  was  the  God 


296      THE    PEOPLE    OF    THE    COVENANT 

who  was  the  Providence  of  their  race,  who  had 
graciously  chosen  Israel,  and  led  her,  and  guarded 
her,  and  taught  her  His  law.  He  was  their  Saviour 
in  the  past,  their  King  in  the  present,  their  hope  for 
the  future. 

On  the  other  side  of  the  bargain  were  the  condi- 
tions on  which  they  received  the  divine  favours. 
These  conditions  are  stated  in  the  Ten  Command- 
ments, the  words  of  the  covenant,  "I  am  the  Lord 
thy  God,"  that  on  the  one  side — on  the  other,  "Thou 
shalt  have  none  other  gods  before  me."  The  people 
are  to  be  separated,  dedicated,  consecrated.  The 
chosen  people  are  to  be  a  holy  people.  Their  lives 
are  to  belong  to  God,  His  property.  The  Lord  our 
God  made  a  covenant  with  us  in  Horeb ;  and  then  fol- 
low the  terms  of  the  contract,  the  Decalogue,  which  re- 
mains to  this  day  the  highest  summary  of  the  moral 
law,  man's  duty  to  God  and  to  his  fellowmen.  It  is 
this  ethical  aspect  of  the  covenant  relationship  which 
saved  it  from  the  arrogance  and  national  pride  and 
empty  presuming  on  favour,  which  otherwise  would 
soon  have  killed  religion.  Israel's  privilege  (the 
spiritual  teachers  never  ceased  to  remind  them)  was 
Israel's  penalty.  Every  right,  every  favour,  meant  a 
duty.  Thus  we  see  that  the  history  of  revelation, 
the  history  of  religion  is  the  history  of  God's  cove- 


THE    PEOPLE    OF    THE    COVENANT      297 

nant  with  men,  and  so  the  revelation  of  God  in 
Christ  could  only  be  fitly  described  as  the  new  cove- 
nant. That,  too,  like  the  covenants  of  the  past,  since 
it  meant  new  light,  new  spiritual  opportunity,  meant 
also  added  moral  obligation. 

"The  Lord  our  God  made  a  covenant  with  us" — 
that  is  not  only  the  heart  of  the  Decalogue ;  but  it  is 
also  the  very  heart  of  religion.  Religion  begins  with 
the  consciousness  that  we  are  brought  into  relation- 
ship with  God,  and  stand  to  Him  in  terms  of  love  and 
grace.  So  the  idea  of  covenant  is  woven  into  the 
complete  fabric  of  the  Bible.  The  Bible  is  the 
record  of  divine  covenant.  This  great  figure  has 
been  too  often  stated  merely  forensically,  as  a  legal 
contract.  Because  of  this  it  has  repelled  men.  But 
it  is  an  eternal  truth  nevertheless ;  and  you  must  in 
some  way  restate  it  sjDiritually  to  yourself,  before 
religion  has  its  birth  in  you.  The  prophets  spoke  of 
the  covenant  not  as  a  formal  act,  like  a  legal  docu- 
ment, drawn  up  on  a  special  occasion.  To  them  it 
was  a  figure  of  speech  by  which  they  expressed  their 
interj)retation  of  the  spiritual  history  of  man,  the 
explanation  of  the  spiritual  position  of  Israel.  How 
else  are  you  going  to  explain  that  wonderful  history 
of  grace  ?  What  other  word  will  better  express  the 
essential  fact,  namely  tliat  God  did  enter  into  human 


298     THE    PEOPLE    OF    THE    COVENANT 

history,  and  men  were  brought  near  to  God  and 
walked  with  Him  in  hmnility  and  truth?  But 
whether  you  use  the  word  or  not,  the  religious  life  is 
a  phantom  unless  there  be  a  reality  behind  this  idea 
of  covenant.  Fellowshij)  with  God  implies  the  con- 
sciousness of  a  relationship  of  love  and  favour  be- 
tween God  and  man.  Call  it  covenant,  call  it  Father- 
hood and  sonship,  call  it  the  marriage  of  Christ  and 
His  Church  (and  these  are  all  biblical  images),  they 
are  but  names,  earthly  figures  to  express  the  spirit- 
ual reality  of  fellowship. 

What  did  this  covenant-relationship  do  for  Israel? 
Without  it  there  would  have  been  no  Israel.  The 
assurance  of  a  covenant  with  God  brought  strength  to 
the  national  life.  To  stand  in  covenant-relationship 
to  Jehovah,  so  that  they  felt  that  they  were  the 
people  of  God,  chosen  by  Him,  meant  a  rich  vital 
force,  bringing  out  into  fullness  all  their  powers 
politically  and  religiously.  "The  people  that  know 
their  God  shall  be  strong  and  do  exploits."  This  as- 
surance made  them  a  nation,  welded  them  into  one, 
and  carried  them  victoriously  over  difficulties.  In 
the  field  of  battle  it  nerved  the  arm  and  stayed  the 
heart.  Their  leaders  were  only  instruments  in  the 
hand  of  their  God  to  work  out  His  loving  purpose  to 
them.     Gideon  or  any  other  might  be  that  instru- 


THE    PEOPLE    OF    THE    COVENANT      299 

mentj  but  it  was  "the  sword  of  the  Lord."  Every 
event  was  God-appointed,  and  so  was  meant  for 
education.  Even  in  defeat  and  humiliation  the 
consciousness  of  a  national  vocation  kept  them  from 
despair.  In  the  dread  furnace  of  the  Exile,  when 
denationalised,  torn  from  country,  scattered  among 
heathen,  their  faith  saved  them,  and  the  nation  never 
died. 

The  very  real  temptation  which  this  sense  of  divine 
favour  engendered  was  the  temptation  to  presump- 
tion. It  overtook  the  Jews  more  than  once  in  their 
later  history.  But  that  was  the  defect  of  the  quality, 
or  rather  the  natural  temptation  of  the  privilege. 
This  state  of  presumption  was  common  at  the  time  of 
our  Lord,  empty  pride  of  spiritual  privilege,  because 
the  Lord  had  made  a  covenant  with  them  at  Horeb; 
and  against  this  much  of  our  Lord's  teaching  was 
directed.  But  He  did  not  deny  the  fact  on  which 
the  presumption  fed  itself:  He  attacked  the  vain 
deduction  which  was  drawn  from  the  fact.  Life  of 
any  sort,  to  be  truly  judged,  must  be  seen  not  in  its 
forms  of  disease  but  in  its  forms  of  health.  The 
whole  history  of  the  little  nation  of  Israel  is  a  strik- 
ing proof  of  the  power  of  the  idea  of  divine  covenant. 

Of  the  reality  of  fellowship  with  God  every 
religious  man  is  assured.     Religion  implies  just  such 


300     THE    PEOPLE    OF    THE    COVENANT 

a  relationship  of  love  and  grace  on  the  part  of  God. 
How  such  a  consciousness  brings  strength  and  com- 
fort to  a  human  heart,  let  every  one  who  knows  the 
power  of  salvation  attest!  Even  in  debased  and 
vicious  forms  it  can  be  seen  to  be  powerful,  making 
a  man  strong  in  a  blatant  land.  It  is  seen  in  its  de- 
based form  in  such  a  man  as  J^apoleon,  with  his  faith 
in  his  o^vn  star,  feeling  himself  to  be  the  man  of 
destiny.  The  faith  such  as  it  was  carried  him  far. 
Every  man  of  strong  character  has  this  faith  in  some 
form  or  other,  that  he  is  separated  out  somehow  to 
do  something  or  be  something.  When  the  faith  is 
truly  religious,  and  not  superstition,  it  drives  a  life 
with  resistless  energy  in  lines  that,  unlike  ISTapoleon's, 
bless  the  world.  It  gave  the  Church  in  her  days  of 
persecution  power  to  suffer  and  to  wait.  It  was  the 
comfort  of  the  Church  of  the  first  centuries:  it  was 
the  strength  of  the  Scottish  Covenanters — not  the 
written  document  "Solemn  League  and  Covenant," 
but  the  inward  assurance  that  they  were  serving  God, 
and  spilling  their  blood  worthily,  and  standing  in  the 
will  of  their  Heavenly  Father.  Is  there  any  motive 
in  the  whole  bundle  of  life  calculated  to  inspire  to 
noble  action  like  this  one  that  the  Lord  our  God  made 
a  covenant  with  us  ? 

Is  there  anything  so  dreary  as  the  life  which  has 


THE    PEOPLE    OF    THE    COVENANT      301 

no  outlook,  no  thrill  of  spiritual  power,  no  vision  of 
the  beauty  and  grace  and  love  of  the  Eternal,  no  hope 
even  of  a  Saviour,  a  Master  of  men  to  flash  on  us  and 
make  our  hearts  dance  to  His  resounding  tread  ?  If 
you  dislike  the  word  covenant,  and  think  it  too  legal, 
too  commercial  a  figure  to  express  such  a  great 
reality,  leave  the  w©rd :  what  about  the  great  fact,  or 
great  faith,  for  which  the  word  only  feebly  stands  ? 
What  about  this  fellowship  of  God  which  men  of  all 
ages  have  experienced  and  felt  so  sweet  ?  Is  it  that 
men  in  simpler  days  once  believed,  and  were  happy 
in  believing,  that  earth  was  so  near  to  heaven,  that 
human  life  w&s  fraught  with  such  eternal  signif- 
icance, that  the  Lord  their  God  entered  into  human 
history  and  made  a  covenant  with  them?  Is  the 
heaven  now  brass  above  us,  and  the  earth  a  sodden 
mass,  and  life  a  poor  and  pitiful  gift?  Must  we 
look  back  wistfully  but  hopelessly  to  the  time  when 
men  could  stay  their  heart-hunger  by  the  thought  that 
God  remembered  men  and  visited  them?  Is  there 
no  lot  possible  for  us  except  that  of  aliens  from  the 
commonwealth  of  Israel,  and  strangers  from  the 
covenants  of  promise,  having  no  hope  and  without 
God  in  the  world  ? 

'Naj,  the  presence  of  Christ  in  our  sinful  world  is 
an  eternal   protest   against   such   a  hopeless   creed. 


302     THE    PEOPLE    OF    THE    COVENANT 

Who  can  see  the  beauty  of  His  holiness,  who  can  see 
Him  full  of  grace  and  truth,  and  behold  His  glory, 
without  feeling  that  He  is  well  called  Immanuel,  God 
with  us  and  God  for  us  ?  He  is  the  way  of  access, 
the  Mediator  of  the  new  covenant;  and  the  sign  of 
the  covenant  is  blood;  the  very  blood  of  His  love. 
Lift  up  your  face,  even  with  stain  of  tears,  and  be- 
lieve. Lift  up  your  heart  and  accept  the  pledge  of 
the  Father's  love.  And  let  the  inspiring  power  of 
the  faith  fill  your  life,  that  the  Lord  your  God  has 
made  an  everlasting  covenant  with  you. 


XXIX 

THE  TERMS  OF  THE  COVENANT 

/  am  the  Lord  thy  Ood,  which  brought  thee  out  of  the  land  of 
Egypt,  from  the  house  of  bondage.  Thou  shalt  have  none  other  gods 
before  Me. — Deuteronomy  v.  6,  7. 

In  the  figure  of  covenant,  which  colours  the  whole 
Bible  language  of  the  relationship  between  God  and 
man,  there  are  three  elements  common  to  the  idea. 
The  first  essential  feature  of  the  thought  is  that  God 
of  His  free  grace  enters  into  this  covenant  relation- 
ship ;  and  the  second  is  that  the  two  parties  to  a  com- 
pact are  free  moral  agents,  that  it  is  of  the  free  will 
of  man  as  well  as  of  the  free  grace  of  God.  The  third 
feature  which  follows  from  that  is  that  there  is  im- 
plied obligation  on  both  sides.  It  is  the  last  of  these 
that  specially  concerns  us  in  our  text.  In  this  cove- 
nant at  Horeb,  which  is  the  typical  covenant  of  the 
Old  Testament,  the  covenant  to  which  all  the 
prophets  appealed  in  their  warnings  and  pleadings 
and  threatenings,  we  have  the  two  sides,  the 
two  contracting  parties,  the  obligations  which  rest 

303 


304      THE    TERMS    OF    THE    COVENANT 

upon  both  God  and  His  people — the  terms  of  the 
covenant.  On  God's  side  it  is  a  'promise  for 
the  future,  based  on  the  very  nature  of  God, 
and  based  on  the  past  history  of  grace,  the 
blessed  experience  they  have  already  known.  On 
the  side  of  Israel  it  is  a  pledge  to  be  truly  His  people. 
It  is  a  compact  of  grace  and  mercy  on  God's  part,  of 
privilege  and  duty  on  theirs.  The  two  sides  of  the 
covenant  are  given  briefly  in  our  text, 

I.  The  divine  side  of  covenant.  The  terms  of  the 
compact  are  these :  On  God's  side  He  promises  to  be 
to  them  the  same  gracious  loving  Providence  which 
they  and  their  fathers  have  known,  "I  am  the  Lord 
thy  God,  which  brought  thee  out  of  the  land  of 
Egypt,  from  the  house  of  bondage."  This  is  more 
than  the  statement  of  a  fact,  more  than  a  succinct 
resume  of  history.  It  is  a  statement  of  what  God 
engages  Himself  to  be  and  to  do.  The  43d  ques- 
tion of  the  Westminster  Shorter  Catechism  is,  "What 
is  the  Preface  to  the  Ten  Commandments  ?"  and  the 
corresponding  answer  is,  "The  Preface  to  the  Ten 
Commandments  is  in  these  words :  I  am  the  Lord  thy 
God  which  brought  thee  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  out 
of  the  house  of  bondage."  The  compilers  of  the 
Catechism  have  neglected  the  figure  of  a  covenant 
which  is  always  associated  in  the  Bible  with   the 


THE    TERMS    OF    THE    COVENANT      305 

Decalogue.  This  verse  is  more  than  a  preface,  a 
foreword  to  what  follows,  more  than  a  few  words  of 
introduction  to  the  more  important  message  that  is 
to  come.  So  it  is  more  than  the  simple  statement  of 
a  historical  fact.  It  is  more  than  a  preface :  it  is  the 
one  side  of  the  terms  of  the  covenant  which  God 
made  with  Israel  in  Horeb.  By  missing  this  idea 
of  the  passage  the  Catechism  misses  the  great  mo- 
tive introduced  to  keep  faith  on  the  other  side.  On 
God's  side  it  is  an  appeal  to  history,  but  not  only  an 
appeal  to  what  He  has  done,  but  also  what  He  has 
shown  Himself  to  be.  The  very  name  Jehovah  (I 
am  Jehovah)  means  that  He  will  be  what  He  has 
been,  the  "I  Am,"  the  Eternal,  without  variable- 
ness or  shadow  of  turning;  the  "To  Be"  as  well  as 
the  "I  Am." 

It  is  a  promise  based  first  of  all  on  His  very  na- 
ture, on  what  He  has  revealed  Himself  to  be.  Then 
the  reference  to  the  historical  fact,  the  reference  to 
the  deliverance  from  Egypt,  adds  richness  to  the 
promise,  suggesting  the  practical  help  of  their  God, 
God  the  Saviour,  who  has  in  times  past  revealed 
Himself  to  Israel  as  such.  He  declares  Himself  as 
their  Redeemer,  the  loving  God  who  was  the  Provi- 
dence of  their  race,  who  had  chosen  Israel  and  led 
her  and  guarded  her,   condescending  to  them,  re- 


306      THE    TERMS    OF    THE    COVENANT 

vealing  Himself  to  them,  the  God  who  took  Ephraim 
by  the  hand  and  taught  him  to  walk.  The  other  side 
of  the  covenant,  the  Ten  Commandments,  takes  its 
force  from  this,  making  its  exclusive  and  almost 
stern  appeal  to  fulfil  the  conditions  implied  in  the 
covenant.  The  covenant  briefly  is  "I  will  be  their 
God  and  they  shall  be  My  people,"  but  the  kind  of 
people  they  are  expected  to  become  depends  on  the 
kind  of  God  He  has  shown  Himself  to  be.  Religion 
is  absolutely  determined  by  the  character  of  the  God 
worshipped. 

The  lives  of  the  worshippers  sooner  or  later  con- 
form to  the  character  of  their  deity.  'No  greater 
demand  can  be  made  upon  the  worshippers  than  is 
implicitly  contained  in  the  conception  of  the  char- 
acter of  their  God.  The  pious  Jew  of  each  succeed- 
ing generation  could  for  himself  fill  up  with  illustra- 
tions from  their  history  the  meaning  of  God's  side 
of  the  covenant,  "I  am  Jehovah  thy  God,  which 
brought  thee  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  from  the 
house  of  bondage."  And  all  the  demands  of  their 
law  issued  from  that  proposition  that  Jehovah  was 
the  one  only  God,  and  the  one  only  source  of  salva- 
tion. 

II.  The  human  side  of  covenant.  We  see  at  once 
how  the  first  Commandment  exactly  balances  that. 


THE    TERMS    OF    THE    COVENANT      307 

"Thou  shalt  have  no  other  gods  before  Me."  That 
is  the  terms  of  the  covenant  on  the  human  side. 
From  that  all  the  other  commandments  flow,  of  wor- 
ship of  God  and  of  duty  to  men.  All  the  religion  of 
Israel,  growing  more  spiritual  through  the  messages 
of  the  prophets  and  the  lives  of  the  saints,  was  but 
the  development  of  the  fundamental  revelation  of 
the  covenant  at  Horeb.  "I  am  Jehovah  thy  God" 
— "Thou  shalt  have  none  other  gods  beside  Me" ; 
these  are  the  terms  of  the  everlasting  covenant  which 
God  makes  with  all  His  people.  The  divine  promise 
is  balanced  by  human  obligation.  This  obligation  is 
set  forth  in  the  Ten  Commandments.  But  they  are 
not  arbitrary  conditions  imposed  as  tests  of  faith; 
they  follow  essentially  from  the  revelation  of  the 
character  of  God  made  to  them.  Because  Jehovah 
is  their  covenant  God,  giving  Himself  to  them, 
they  are  required  to  reverence  Him  and  think  of 
Him  in  accordance  with  His  true  nature;  and  their 
conduct  must  be  worthy  of  Him.  Because  Jehovah 
is  their  God,  being  such  an  one  as  He  has  shown 
Himself  to  be,  they,  if  they  are  to  be  His  people, 
must  fulfil  the  necessary  conditions  of  the  covenant: 
must  have  no  other  gods,  must  not  worship  graven 
images  like  the  heathen,  must  not  take  the  name  of 
Jehovah  in  vain,  must  keep  holy  His  Sabbath  day; 


308      THE    TERMS    OF    THE    COVENANT 

and  in  their  conduct  to  men,  to  parents  and  neigh- 
bours, must  live  as  the  people  of  the  righteous  God. 
All  the  commandments  flow  from  the  first  item  of 
the  human  side  of  the  covenant,  "Thou  shalt  have 
no  other  gods  before  Me."  A  large  part  of  Deu- 
teronomy indeed  is  an  expansion  of  the  first  com- 
mandment, inculcating  duty  to  God,  asking  for  loyal 
trust  and  zealous  service.  God  promises  to  be  their 
God,  their  Redeemer ;  and  they  pledge  themselves  to 
give  Him  undivided  worship,  and  loyalty,  and  obedi- 
ence to  His  moral  commands.  The  first  duty  of 
Israel,  who  has  been  so  privileged,  is  to  love  Jehovah, 
to  be  true  to  Him  in  spite  of  the  blandishments  of 
false  religions,  to  remember  Him  in  the  midst  of  the 
success  and  prosperity  He  will  give  them,  to  keep  His 
commandments  and  to  teach  them  to  their  children. 
They  are  to  be  a  holy  people,  consecrate  to  God.  Eor 
all  God's  gracious  providence  with  them,  for  all 
the  wonderful  history  of  His  mercy  and  loving- 
kindness  in  the  past,  for  all  the  favour  they  are  daily 
receiving,  all  that  is  asked  of  them  is  loving  and 
loyal  obedience.  The  Lord  set  His  love  on  them 
and  chose  them,  not  because  they  were  more  in  num- 
ber than  any  people,  for  they  were  the  fewest  of  all 
peoples,  but  because  the  Lord  loved  them.  He  is 
the  faithful  God  who  keepeth  covenant,  and  they 


THE    TERMS    OF    THE    COVENANT      309 

therefore  also  must  keep  covenant,  fulfil  tlie  condi- 
tions of  the  covenant,  that  is  keep  the  commandments 
of  God. 

Thus  the  Decalogue,  which  expresses  the  funda- 
mental relationship  between  God  and  man,  is 
grounded  on  a  moral  basis,  Man's  side  of  the  cove- 
nant was  performed  not  by  scrupulous  attention  to 
the  ceremonial  law,  but  by  obedience  to  the  moral 
law.  But  it  was  a  religious  demand  as  well  as  a 
moral  demand.  It  begins  as  a  demand  for  heart- 
religion,  a  spiritual  assent,  and  not  a  mere  formal 
renunciation  of  idols.  "Thou  shalt  have  none  other 
gods  before  Me,"  claiming  thus  inward  submission, 
the  adoring  worship  of  the  heart.  They  must  give 
Him  undivided  allegiance.  They  must  turn  their 
hearts  from  all  false  gods,  and  walk  in  the  way  of 
His  commandments.  Jehovah  demands  from  them 
exclusive  regard,  and  this  because  He  comes  to  them 
as  a  spiritual  being.  Hence  the  prohibition  of 
image-worship.  The  revelation  of  God  as  spirit 
implies  the  exclusion  of  all  the  degrading  supersti- 
tions of  idolatry.  The  exclusiveness  is  also  the  nat- 
ural and  inevitable  demand  of  love.  There  is  a 
true  and  right  jealousy  of  love,  though  the  word  and 
the  idea  have  been  debased  by  our  usage.  It  has 
most  unholy  associations  in  our  minds,  but  it  is  a 


310      THE    TERMS    OF    THE    COVENANT 

quality  of  the  purest  love  nevertheless.  Complete 
love  asks  for  complete  return.  It  cannot  brook 
rivalry.  And  God's  love,  being  perfect  and  infinite, 
makes  demands  for  exclusive  regard  impossible  to 
any  human  love.  Because  Jehovah  loves  Israel, 
He  will  not  have  a  rival  on  the  throne  of  their  hearts. 
"I  am  Jehovah  thy  God" — "Thou  shalt  have  none 
other  gods  before  Me." 

The  history  of  revelation  is  the  history  of  the  re- 
lationship between  God  and  man,  fitly  pictured  under 
the  figure  of  a  covenant;  and  so  the  revelation  of 
God  in  Christ  is  spoken  of  as  the  new  covenant,  a 
nearer,  sweeter  relationship.  The  terms  of  the  cove- 
nant are  the  same  as  those  of  the  covenant  at  Horeb, 
only  of  richer  content.  He  is  the  Lord  our  Re- 
deemer who  delivered  us  from  the  house  of  bondage, 
who  has  shown  Himself  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ 
as  our  Heavenly  Father,  condescending  to  men,  dis- 
playing the  miracle  of  divine  sacrifice,  redeeming 
us  at  the  jeopardy  of  blood,  loving  us  with  an  ever- 
lasting love.  Of  His  wondrous  grace  He  stoops  to 
enter  into  a  covenant,  taking  us,  unworthy,  into  the 
sweep  of  His  loving  purpose,  walking  with  us  in  lov- 
ing fellowship  through  this  great  wilderness.  IN'eed 
I  pile  up  words  to  describe  to  you  this  blessed 
covenant-relationship   in  which   you   of   His  grace 


THE    TERMS    OF    THE    COVENANT      311 

stand  towards  God?  Your  souls  saved  from  the 
burden  of  sin  know  it:  your  glad  hearts  rejoicing  in 
some  measure  of  communion  know  it.  As  ever  it  is  a 
covenant  of  love  and  mercy,  a  love  that  went  to  death, 
that  paid  the  price  of  blood.  It  is  the  love  of  God : 
behold  what  manner  of  love ! 

This  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper  is  a  symbol 
of  the  covenant-relationship  by  which  God  has  met 
man  and  entered  into  fellowship  with  him  in  Jesus 
Christ.  We  celebrate  the  deathless  love  of  the  dying 
Saviour.  He  sealed  the  covenant  with  His  own 
blood.  The  sign  of  the  covenant  is  the  sign  of  the 
cross.  We  take  the  bread  and  the  wine  (as  Moses 
and  the  Israelites  took  the  two  tablets  of  stone)  as 
first  of  all  evidence  of  the  covenant  which  God  has 
made  with  us,  as  tangible  tokens  by  which  we  repre- 
sent to  ourselves  the  fact  of  God's  eternal  love,  by 
which  we  say  to  ourselves  that  God  loves  us,  loves 
us  to  death  (witness  the  broken  bread  and  the  poured 
out  wine !).  In  these  tokens  He  says  to  us,  "I  am  the 
Lord  thy  God."  When  we  take  the  bread  and  the 
wine  and  recall  to  our  mind  what  they  stand  for  in 
our  Saviour's  life  and  death,  could  we  have  stronger 
witness  that  God  has  made  a  covenant  with  us  and 
has  pledged  Himself  to  us  and  said,  "I  am  the  Lord 
thy  God,  thy  Redeemer"  ? 


312      THE    TERMS    OF    THE    COVENANT 

That  is  the  one  side  of  the  covenant.  The  other 
side,  as  at  Horeb,  carries  with  it  conditions,  and 
along  the  same  two  lines  of  morality  and  religion. 
(1)  For  us  too  the  covenant  has  a  moral  basis,  and 
implies  that  our  lives  will  assimilate  towards  the 
character  of  the  God  we  worship.  We  are  set  to  the 
task  to  become  like  Him,  to  be  holy  as  He  is  holy, 
to  keep  His  commandments,  and  to  do  His  will. 
The  moral  conditions  of  the  covenant-relationship 
insisted  on  in  the  Old  Testament  are  still  essential. 
"If  a  man  love  Me,"  said  Jesns,  "he  will  keep  My 
words,  and  My  Father  will  love  him,  and  we  will 
come  imto  him,  and  make  our  abode  with  him." 
The  condition  of  communion  is  the  keeping  of  His 
words,  just  as  the  condition  of  the  old  covenant  was 
the  keeping  of  the  commandments.  If  God  is  to 
be  our  God,  we  must  be  His  people,  and  His  people 
means  a  consecrate  people.  It  is  not  necessary  to 
insist  on  this  aspect  of  the  covenant,  namely  the 
moral  obligation  it  carries,  to  people  who  have  seen 
the  grace  and  truth  of  the  Master,  and  had  any 
vision  of  the  beauty  of  Ilis  holiness.  (2)  Further, 
here  as  at  Horeb,  the  root  of  the  human  side  of  the 
contract  is  spiritual,  inward  submission,  the  adoring- 
worship  of  the  heart.  The  response  to  "I  am  the 
Lord  thy  God"  is  the  conclusion,  "Thou  shalt  have 


THE    TERMS    OF    THE    COVENANT      313 

none  other  gods  beside  Me."     To  His  love  we  give 
love.     To  His  giving  we  give  ourselves.     He  claims 
undivided  allegiance,  exclusive  regard.     The  divine 
jealousy   will   not   brook   rivalry.     Jehovah   cannot 
consort  with  idols.     God  cannot  consort  with  Mam- 
mon.    Jesus  stands  outside  the  door  till  He  has  full 
entrance  and  undivided  possession.     He  must  have  a 
regal  place  or  none  at  all.     He  can  only  accept  the 
throne  of  the  heart.     The  early  Christians  would 
have  been  tolerated  by  Rome  if  they  would  have  been 
content  to  allow  their  Saviour  to  have  a  place  in  the 
Pantheon  among  the  other  pagan  deities.     But  about 
this  there  could  be  no  compromise.     Erom  the  very 
nature  of  the  case   it  was   so.     Because  it  was   a 
spiritual  religion,  He  could  accept  no  partial  sov- 
ereignty.    Besides,  such  love  as  His  demands  com- 
plete love  in  return.     His  religion  cannot  be  a  matter 
of  preference,  but  a  passion.     He  will  not  receive 
half-hearted  disciples,  with  one  eye  on  the  kingdom 
and  another  back  to  the  world.     "He  that  loveth 
father  or  mother  more  than  Me  is  not  worthy  of  Me." 
It  is  because  His  love  is  infinite,  that  it  comes  with 
such  infinite  claims.     It  is  to  insult  Him  to  offer 
a  little  bit  of  our  hearts,  to  present  a  scant  measure 
of  love  to  Him,  who  has  poured  such  full  measure 
into  our  cup  of  life,  who  has  loved  us  and  given  Him- 


314      THE    TERMS    OF    THE    COVENANT 

self  for  us.  Is  it  not  our  reasonable  service  ?  He 
will  not  compete  with  your  idols.  The  Saviour  must 
be  King,  or  He  cannot  even  be  Saviour.  Is  it  not 
reasonable  that  we  should  so  love  Him  who  first  loved 
us  ?  There  is  no  safety  for  us  till  we  love  Him  with 
all  our  heart  and  all  our  mind  and  all  our  soul.  Before 
they  are  perfected,  our  love  must  become  passion, 
and  our  service  must  become  devotion.  To-day, 
when  we  in  symbol  eat  of  His  body  broken  for  us,  and 
drink  of  His  blood  shed  for  us,  do  we  not  understand 
how  He  must  claim  complete  possession  of  us  till 
beside  His  love  all  else  seems  as  hatred  in  compari- 
son? The  covenant  is  imperfect  till  in  response  to 
"I  am  the  Lord  thy  Eedeemer,"  the  answer  comes 
sincerely,  "Yea,  Lord,  Thou  knowest  that  we  love 
Thee.  Beside  Thee  there  is  no  other  god,  no  other 
idol,  in  our  hearts." 


XXX 
THE  APPEAL  OF  THE  PAST 

Thus  saith  the  Lord:  I  remember  for  thee  the  kindness  of  thy 
youth,  the  love  of  thirie  espousals,  when  thou  wentest  after  Me  in  the 
wilderness,  in  a  land  that  teas  not  sown.  Israel  was  holiness  unto 
the  Lord. — Jeremiah  il.  2. 

A  FAVOURITE  prophetic  figure,  common  in  Jeremiah 
and  other  prophets,  is  that  which  speaks  of  Israel  as 
the  bride  of  God.  It  is  a  beautiful  thought,  that  God 
had  married  Israel,  claimed  her  exclusively  as  His, 
honouring  her  with  a  great  love,  and  sealing  her  to 
Himself,  making  her  the  pure  bride  of  Heaven.  The 
figure  is  delicately  touched  in  this  fine  verse  which 
recalls  the  early  call  of  Israel.  So  all  idolatry,  in 
keeping  with  the  same  figure,  is  as  the  breaking  of 
the  marriage  bond,  a  wilful  and  scandalous  unfaith- 
fulness, the  nation  deserting  the  true  God  who  is  as 
a  husband  unto  her  with  all  the  rights  of  love  and  of 
law. 

In  the  name  of  God,  Jeremiah  solemnly  charges 
the  nation  with  infidelity.  In  turning  to  idols  and 
the  lower  worship  of  idolatry,  she  is  defiling  herself 

315 


316       THE    APPEAL    OF    THE    PAST 

with  unworthy  lovers.  Jeremiah  here  contrasts 
Israel's  infidelity  with  God's  faithfulness  "I  re- 
member," is  Jehovah's  lament,  recalling  in  fond 
memory  His  choice  of  her  and  delight  in  her.  The 
prophet  also  contrasts  Israel's  present  infidelity 
with  her  past  faithfulness,  as  seen  idealised  through 
the  mists  of  history.  ''I  remember  for  thee  the  kind- 
ness of  thy  youth,  the  love  of  thine  espousals,  when 
thou  wentest  after  Me  in  the  wilderness,  in  a  land 
that  was  not  sown."  Israel  with  all  her  faults  had  a 
great  and  noble  past.  To  memory  it  is  very  beauti- 
ful— even  to  God.  The  early  Israel  was  not  perfect ; 
none  knew  better  than  the  prophet  how  imperfect  it 
was.  Then,  too,  were  rebellions  and  back-slidings, 
and  murmurings  even  in  the  wilderness.  Still,  their 
history  is  a  record  of  greatness.  With  all  the  faults 
and  failures  revealed  in  the  early  story  of  the  nation, 
there  must  have  been  a  whole-hearted  and  generous 
heroism.  Only  the  good  is  thought  of,  even  God  will 
only  think  of  the  good,  the  self-sacrificing  faith,  the 
ardour  of  a  strong,  simple  love,  the  great  choice  of 
the  wilderness  instead  of  the  flesh-pots  of  Egypt. 
God's  love  brooded  over  the  youth  of  their  race ;  and 
they  had  responded  sincerely.  They  clave  to  God, 
and  went  out  like  their  father  Abraham,  not  knowing 
whither  they  went,  but  strong  in  faith  because  they 


THE    APPEAL    OF    THE    PAST       317 

were  assured  they  went  with  God.  It  is  the  ideal 
past  of  pious  Jewish  thought,  the  time  when  God 
called  them  and  they  gladly  obeyed,  the  time  when 
God  and  the  nation  were  on  intimate  terms,  when 
Israel  felt  herself  a  glad  and  proud  bride. 

It  is  God's  love  which  is  here  first  of  all  emphasised 
rather  than  Israel's.  He  recalls  to  them  His  kind- 
ness and  gracious  condescension  and  the  love  which 
made  Him  espouse  them.  He  would  soften  them 
with  the  thought  of  it,  remind  them  of  His  watchful, 
sleepless  love,  and  make  them  feel  ashamed  of  their 
heartless  desertion  of  Him  now.  But  they  too  had 
once  been  faithful  to  Him  in  the  kindness  and  glory 
of  youth,  in  the  love  of  the  first  espousals.  "Israel 
was  holiness  unto  the  Lord,"  consecrated  to  Him, 
"the  first  fruits  of  His  increase,"  and  so  protected 
by  Him  in  loving  care  from  all  enemies.  But  alas! 
this  idyllic  relation  is  broken;  the  strong  religious 
bond  no  longer  unites  Israel  to  God.  The  failure  is 
not  on  God's  part.  "Thus  saith  the  Lord,  what 
iniquity  have  your  fathers  found  in  Me  that  they 
are  gone  far  from  Me,  and  have  walked  after  other 
gods — vanity?"  Idolatry  is  vanity,  emptiness;  for 
to  the  strong  religious  sense  of  a  prophet  idols  were 
nothing,  a  ghastly  simulacrum  of  the  reality. 

The  folly  of  it  oppresses  the  prophet.     The  shame 


318       THE    APPEAL    OF    THE    PAST 

of  Israel's  infidelity  is  increased  by  the  thought  of 
the  poor  choice  they  made.  The  insult  to  God  might 
have  been  less  if  the  new  object  of  their  love  were 
more  worthy.  They  might  at  least  have  given  Him 
a  fitter  rival !  There  is  fierce  scorn  and  contemptu- 
ous sarcasm  in  the  way  the  prophet  speaks  of  this. 
To  desert  God,  the  bride's  first  love  with  His  kiss 
of  the  espousals  warm  on  her  cheek,  was  a  crime; 
but  to  desert  Him  for  this  was  also  a  shame,  a  last- 
ing disgrace.  It  is  insult  added  to  injury.  The 
lover  in  Tennyson's  Locksley  Hall  breaks  out  into 
scorn,  not  so  much  at  his  desertion  as  at  his  desertion 
for  such  a  poor  unworthy  rival,  a  clown  whose  gross- 
ness  of  nature  will  drag  her  down,  and  sings  of  the 
folly  of  choosing  a  range  of  lower  feelings  and  a  nar- 
rower heart  than  his.  If  she  must  be  false,  there 
would  not  be  so  much  pain  had  she  chosen  a  higher 
and  a  better.  He  would  at  least  have  been  saved 
from  the  sting  of  insult  and  the  sense  of  shame  on 
her  behalf.  How  much  more  is  the  feeling  of  scorn 
to  a  clear-seeing  soul  like  Jeremiah  for  what  is  to 
him  an  infinitely  more  foolish  and  disgraceful  choice  ! 
He  can  almost  laugh  with  bitterness  at  the  contrast. 
For  the  bride  of  God  to  desert  Him — for  what? 
So  contemptible  does  it  seem  to  him  to  turn  from  the 
pure  spiritual  worship  of  the  living  God  to  the  de- 


THE    APPEAL    OF    THE    PAST       319 

grading  rites  of  idolatry,  nay,  so  astounding,  that  he 
would  expect  to  see  the  very  heavens  frown  and 
the  skies  laugh  with  mocking  irony,  ''Be  ye  aston- 
ished, oh  ye  heavens,  at  this."  He  even  contrasts 
Israel's  infidelity  with  heathen  faithfulness  to  their 
false  gods.  "Hath  a  heathen  nation  changed  their 
gods  though  they  are  no-gods,  but  My  people  have 
changed  their  glory  for  that  which  profiteth  not." 
It  is  terrible  blindness  which  does  not  see  the  highest, 
which  cannot  see  the  best.  The  insanity  of  the 
choice  weighs  on  the  prophet's  heart.  To  choose  the 
palpably  lower  seems  such  incredible  folly. 

Yet  what  common  folly  it  is  !  Is  there  no  counter- 
part of  that  folly  in  our  own  lives  ?  Are  any  of  us  at 
this  very  time  turning  our  hearts  towards  a  lower 
ideal  which  we  confess  in  our  sane  moments  to  be 
lower,  choosing  the  part  which  our  conscience  tells  us 
to  be  not  the  better  part?  Are  any  of  us  giving  up 
the  highest  because  it  is  too  high,  shutting  our  eyes 
to  the  light  that  would  lead  us  upward  and  our  ears 
to  the  manifest  call  of  God?  Are  we  letting  in 
business  and  pleasure  and  all  worldly  and  selfish 
thoughts  and  aims  and  ambitions,  and  shutting  out 
Christ?  Are  none  of  us  to-day  making  the  great 
refusal?  The  tragedy,  so  like  a  farce,  that  was 
played  before  Jeremiah's  eyes,  is  it  not  repeated 


320       THE    APPEAL    OF    THE    PAST 

again  and  again  ?  The  folly  at  which  he  stood  aghast, 
is  it  not  enacted  daily  in  our  midst? 

Some  can  remember  a  kindness  of  youth,  an  early 
love  and  faith,  an  early  committal,  an  early  plighting 
of  troth,  an  early  heroism  that  chose  the  wilderness 
if  need  be.  It  is  bad  enough  never  to  have  known 
the  high,  to  have  known  only  the  lower  and  to  be 
placidly  content  with  it.  But  to  have  known  it  even 
once ;  to  have  been  drawn  to  it  in  desire  and  decision, 
and  now  to  fall  supinely  back  too  feeble  to  aspire ;  to 
shut  yourself  out  at  last  from  that  richer  life  and 
purer  heart  and  sweeter  love  once  possible,  and  all 
for  the  lower  gratification  of  the  lower  self — that  is 
hell.  You  can  never  quite  forget  the  truer  past. 
Sometimes  you  must  remember  the  kindness  of  thy 
youth,  the  love  of  thine  espousals,  "and  an  eye  shall 
vex  thee  looking  ancient  kindness  on  thy  pain." 

Memory  is  one  of  the  good  angels  of  God  recalling 
the  past  in  the  ethical  interests  of  the  present  and 
the  future.  Sometimes  it  works  through  the  fail- 
ures and  mistakes  and  follies  and  sins  of  other  days, 
working  in  us  shame  and  humility  and  repentance. 
How  can  we  be  proud  or  vainglorious  or  self- 
sufficient,  when  at  a  touch  pages  of  the  written 
book  can  be  turned  back  to  disclose  to  us  what  we 
were  or  did  ?     Memory  is  repentance,  and  repent- 


THE    APPEAL    OF    THE    PAST       321 

ance  is  a  gate  of  life.  Sometimes  it  works  on  other 
lines,  not  by  a  recollection  of  past  failure  and  sin, 
but  by  a  recollection  of  past  faith  and  love  and  joy 
and  peace.  It  reminds  us  of  the  kindness  of  youth 
and  the  love  of  early  days  and  the  first  high  thoughts 
and  noble  passions.  We  can  be  touched  as  truly  and 
profoundly  by  the  recollection  of  goodness,  by  see- 
ing ourselves  again  in  the  mirror  of  the  past  as  we 
were  at  our  best.  The  contrast  can  move  us,  as  the 
prophet  sought  to  move  Israel  by  that  picture  of  their 
devotion  when  Israel  was  holiness  unto  the  Lord. 

God  appeals  to  us  as  a  nation  by  our  past,  by  every 
noble  struggle  and  every  hard-won  victory,  by  all  that 
our  fathers  have  won  for  us  of  liberty,  by  the  stand- 
ard that  has  been  set  to  us,  by  every  possession, 
material  and  intellectual  and  moral  and  spiritual, 
which  we  have  inherited.  It  is  all  a  call  to  prove 
ourselves  worthy  of  a  great  vocation  and  be  not 
recreant  and  craven  successors.  The  appeal  of  the 
past  comes  to  us  also  as  a  Church,  by  the  Christian 
centuries,  by  all  the  way  through  which  the  Church 
has  been  led,  by  the  devotion  and  sacrifice  and  faith 
and  love  and  tears  and  blood  of  all  the  saints.  Every 
story  of  grace  is  a  new  appeal  to  us,  to  feel  our- 
selves in  the  succession.  Surely  also  God  appeals 
to  us  as  individuals  by  our  past.     He  reminds  us  of 


322       THE    APPEAL    OF    THE    PAST 

His  goodness  and  grace  and  love.  There  is  perhaps 
a  paradise  lying  behind  us ;  the  memory  of  a  happy 
childhood  it  may  he,  the  patience  and  care  and  love 
and  regard  of  parents  and  friends  and  teachers;  or 
it  may  be  the  recollection  of  innocence,  turning  back 
the  page  to  the  time  when  we  looked  out  on  life  with 
pure  eyes  and  unselfish  thought,  the  remembrance  of 
sweet  child-like  faith  and  the  strong  calm  power  of 
loving.  He  would  soften  us  by  the  memory.  It  is 
there,  somewhere  in  that  past,  an  appeal  which  moves 
the  heart  by  the  very  contrast.  It  may  be  a  time  of 
decision  when  we  too  came  to  terms  with  God  and 
we  knew  ourselves  to  be  in  a  loving  relationship  to 
Him,  when  we  plighted  our  troth,  and  knew  some- 
thing of  the  joy  expressed  in  the  prophet's  daring 
figure  "of  the  love  of  the  espousals"  when  the  soul 
was  held  in  the  thrilling  of  God's  arm.  Is  there  in 
our  past  a  sacred  spot  made  holy  to  memory  by  holy 
associations,  made  noble  by  a  noble  aspiration,  made 
pure  by  a  pure  resolve,  made  beautiful  by  the  en- 
trance into  the  heart  and  life  of  the  King  Himself 
in  His  beauty? 

The  offence  of  idolatry  by  the  Jews  was  a  thousand 
times  worse  than  the  heathen's  offence,  for  it  was 
apostasy;  it  was  as  the  shameful  breach  of  the  mar- 
riage vow.     To  rightly  appreciate  our  own  situation 


THE    APPEAL    OF    THE    PAST       323 

with  regard  to  the  past  and  all  God's  gracious  love 
revealed  in  it,  we  need  to  use  the  same  prophetic 
figures  and  to  put  something  of  the  same  moral  pas- 
sion into  the  words.  When  we  have  looked  back  to 
that  sacred  spot  in  our  past,  we  have  to  ask  ourselves 
with  something  of  the  same  indignation,  turning  the 
edge  of  the  irony  to  our  own  hearts,  will  we  commit 
the  folly,  the  glaring  infidelity,  the  terrible  apostasy 
of  denying  that  sacred  past?  Will  we  harden  our 
hearts  as  the  sweet  thought  of  it  comes  back  to  us? 
One  of  the  deadliest  sins  of  middle  life  and  of  age 
is  irreverence  of  the  dreams  of  youth,  sneering  at 
early  piety  or  early  earnestness,  declaring  that  then 
we  were  ignorant  and  foolish  and  full  of  impossible 
ideals,  but  that  now  we  have  seen  more  of  life  and 
know  the  world,  and  are  too  wise  ever  again  to  be 
entrapped  into  high  feeling  or  burning  zeal  or  self- 
forgetful  devotion.  It  is  a  low  deep  when  a  man 
so  views  the  past;  for  he  is  hardening  his  heart 
against  its  appeal. 

If  God  remembers,  shall  we  forget?  If  God  re- 
calls to  us  some  such  time  of  early  faith  and  decision, 
shall  we  not  use  the  memory  to  dower  our  life  again 
with  a  new  obedience  ?  If  God  reminds  us  of  the 
kindness  of  our  youth,  the  love  of  our  espousals, 
when  we  fell  in  love  with  His  will  and  lost  our  hearts 


324       THE    APPEAL    OF    THE    PAST 

to  His  life,  when  in  the  passion  of  a  great  resolve 
we -counted  all  things  but  loss  that  we  might  gain 
Him,  and  were  willing  to  follow  Christ  into  the 
wilderness  if  He  would  but  bless  us  with  a  look  of 
love,  will  we  not  use  this  revived  recollection  as  a 
new  opportunity,  and  turn  to  Him  again,  and  once 
more  espouse  ourselves  in  glad  and  full  surrender? 
O  my  soul,  if  God  remembers  for  thee  the  love  of 
thine  espousals,  shalt  thou  forget? 


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